


Fight so dirty (but your love so sweet)

by greenarrow12123



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bounty Hunting, baby yoda makes an appearance, future relationship, the mandalorian - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-08 00:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21466900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenarrow12123/pseuds/greenarrow12123
Summary: It was simple. A new mission. To hunt someone down. Until you found out you had been hired to hunt down a Mandalorian. The odds weren't exactly in your favor.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You, The Mandalorian/Original Character(s), The Mandalorian/Reader
Comments: 63
Kudos: 555





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven’t written in forever because LIFE but I love Mando over here soooooo I had to write something but also just finished this at 2 am so if there are spelling or grammar errors my apologies anyways I hope you enjoy!!!!

You had been hired to hunt down a Mandalorian.

When your Commander personally called to pull you out of the field and into Headquarters, you knew it must be for a covert mission. 

Typically, when you were given a new assignment, you would receive a short message on your comlink, which would send you on your way. But a face to face meeting, especially in your line of business, was almost unheard of.

So, without wasting a second, you packed up your encampment and slipped stealthily into the cargo-bay of the nearest ship bound closest to your Headquarters.

The ride itself was bumpy, and as your head slammed against the box you were hidden behind for the umpteenth time, you silently promised yourself to never leave your ship at Headquarters ever again.

A couple of hours later, you stumbled unsteadily out of the ship, not even trying to stay hidden from the crew whose ship you had stowed away on.

As you yawned, almost tripping down the ramp, you heard a shout behind you as one of the crew members caught sight of you. Turning, you threw him a wink and a salute before you took off into the crowd in front of you, vanishing among the vast volume of people.

With your signature red cape sweeping behind you, the citizens in the street immediately steered from your path, trying to keep out of your way and away from your famous temper.

Everybody who was anybody knew who you were and that you were not to be trifled with.

Your Commander and your troop had made somewhat of a name for yourselves on this planet. You served the highest buyers and did whatever needed to be done. Murder. Stealing. Assassinations. Bribing. Threatening. Bodyguarding. Sometimes even peacekeeping. It wasn’t always the best job, but it was a stable one, and it gave you more than enough money to survive comfortably.

You had only been working with your Commander for a few years but had quickly risen in the ranks when you earned her trust after saving her life. It wasn’t rare for a client to try and murder you, but trying to murder the Commander was a different story. But instead of succeeding, he found himself 10 feet underground. Thanks to you.

When you reached headquarters, you entered without knocking, slamming open the door to the Command Center.

Commander Trax leveled you with a glare when one of the rookies, startled from the door, spilled their drink all over her paperwork.

“Scram.”

The young rookie went red in the face and took off out the door before you could even say a word.

“You could be nicer to them.”

Trax scoffed motioning for you to take a seat, “That’s how they’ll get killed.”

“I haven’t.”

She squinted her eyes at you, “I’m not nice to you.”

“Mhm, sure we both know you basically adopted me.” You snorted as you settled yourself in the chair across from her, swinging your legs up to rest on the table.

Trax pushed a folder toward you but you didn’t take it yet, instead deciding to relax for a moment leaning back against the chair with your eyes closed.

“I have a mission for you.”

A pause.

“What kind?” You responded.

“Search and recovery.”

Your eyes opened slightly, squinting at her, “Thing?”

“Person.”

You rolled your eyes, “Boring. I want something more exciting.”

“He’s a Mandalorian.”

You froze, your face blank as your searched Trax’s face for a lie, “You’re shitting me.”

Trax motioned to the folder in front of you, and you quickly slid your feet off the table before pulling the folder to you, flipping through the pages.

Your jaw dropped open, “This man is a legend, why do we need to find him?”

“You know I can’t tell you that.”

Your mind was racing and you whispered to yourself, “But who would want a Mandalorian?”

“The mission brief is in there. You find him, and you bring what is in his position. It is called the asset, another life form.”

You hummed thoughtfully to yourself as you continued flipping through the file, before you stood, “Sounds easy enough to me.”

As you made your way past Trax, she grabbed your arm and pulled you in close, whispering in your ear, “Be careful. We are messing with some really powerful people. If you don’t succeed, don’t come back.”

Your eyes flashed for a minute thinking she was trying to get rid of you, but you realized that she wasn’t saying this to scare you. She was trying to protect you.

If you failed, you would be killed.

You nodded solemnly, gripping the file tighter, before stalking out the door.

Your heart was pounding hard as you boarded your ship.

──────────────────────

You had grown up with bounty hunters. Knew how to talk like one and work like one. A Mandalorian was different though. You know that it would be hard to find someone who knew how to stay hidden.

But you had a young and trusting face, and you could easily play the victim to find whoever you needed. Even him. All you needed was to make a fool of someone who had seen him.

After arriving on his last known location, and scouring the area for information about a man sporting a helmet and misplaced armor, you were able to scrounge up enough information to begin your search. It took you a few days but you were finally able to locate him. Some low-level dealer had easily been bribed with a few chips.

And that is how you found yourself camped out on the roof of his motel room. The hours passed and it grew colder, but you didn’t move. When it began to rain you groaned, silently cursing this stupid bounty hunter for not being back yet.

As it passed midnight, you began to nod off, but suddenly awoke when you finally heard footsteps and door slam below.

Sliding down the side of the building, you slipped into the room, your hand moving to your stun gun. But before you could even wrap your finger around it, you felt a blaster push into your back.

“Why are you here?”

You held up your hands, “Looking for a man in a helmet, have you seen him?”

The man behind you didn’t say a word, and you took that as an invitation to turn around.

Throwing him a wide smile, you looked him up and down, your eyes lingering on his body, focusing on the weakest links in his armor and where it would hurt the most to hit him. With a wink, you turned on your heel and walked over to one of the beds, falling down to rest against the headboard, your legs stretched out.

“Hope you don’t mind, I am so tired. It’s been a long day looking for you.”

“Why?” His voice was gruff. You could tell by his stance that he was tired, and the weariness in his voice confirmed it.

You shrugged, “I have my orders. You have yours. Where’s your little buddy I’ve heard so much about.”

His fingers twitched and your eyes flicked down as you watched them hesitate around the trigger of his blaster.

“Get out.”

You tsked, leaning forward to fluff up the pillow behind you, “No can do buddy. Like I said I have orders. If I don’t bring you in, then I die.”

“Not my problem.” He holstered his weapon and moved to stand against the wall.

You sighed, pushing yourself to your feet. You shot forward, standing in front of him in seconds. Startled, the man reached for his blaster. But went he to aim it at you, his arm froze and he looked down at it confused, as he seemed to fight with it.

A sound echoed from the corner of the room and you looked around in confusion, catching sight of something behind the Mandalorian in front of you. Squinting, you stepped around the man, who made a move to try to stop you but growled when he couldn’t move more than an inch.

A floating orb sat in the corner, and as you grew closer you saw a creature inside. Reaching out toward his green hand, his eyes made contact with you as he made a cooing sound.

The man behind you grunted and you spun.

“This is it? The asset? It’s a child!” You whispered horrified.

“I know.”

You ran a hand over your face, waving wildly at the baby, “I can’t give a child to those people.”

“What people?”

“I don’t know!” Your voice was becoming louder, “But my Commander said they would kill me. They would most definitely have no qualms killing a child. You need to get out of here.”

“What about you?”

Your stomach dropped but waved it off with a gentle laugh, and an unsure smile, “I’ll be fine.”

“I-“

He hesitated.

You stood there. Watching this man who seemed to be at war with himself. A few seconds later, he finally sighed. 

“…could use a crewmember.”

You answered before you could stop yourself, “Yes.”

The man nodded and sat on a bed. When you didn’t move, he motioned from you to the other bed across the room.

Cautiously, you walked past the man and settled down on the bed, fully dressed. With one last look at the helmeted man, who may or may not be sleeping, you closed your eyes.

But you didn’t sleep. Your hand remained wrapped around your blasted all night. And you’re sure his did too. 

Goddamn bleeding heart. Goddamn Mandalorian.

──────────────────────

That goddamn man.

He barely spoke. Didn’t respond to any of your questions. Didn’t even stay in the same room as you for longer than a few minutes.

You were slowly losing your mind.

You would help around the ship. Fix things. Be back-up when he went into cities. Or babysit. But you needed connection. Real human connection. Just someone to talk to.

All you had was the child.

And while his cooing was cute. It wasn’t the type of conversation you craved.

It had been two weeks since you joined the Mandalorian and the little green child, who was apparently 50 years old. That was the only thing you had been able to get out to the helmeted man. And you had tried everything to get closer to him. Or even just learn his name.

You thought you had a chance one night when the man in question came home with a deep cut. You had rushed over to help him, but he had yelled at you to stay away.

You ignored him for three days after that.

Not that he noticed.

However, when this trend of getting injured continued to be a frequent occurrence, you finally stood your ground.

After listening to him grunt in pain for the tenth time, you stalked into his room and stood in front of him. When he said nothing, you growled and pushed him down, “Let. Me. Do. My. Job.” You said through gritted teeth.

He did.

He trusted you more after that. Let you wrap up his wounds. Said ‘good morning’ to you. Even stayed in the room with you now, instead of hightailing it every time he saw you. 

And then, when you saved his life, he was indebted to you.

He had been mad a first because he had told you to remain put he went to grab things from the market. But you hadn’t. You had shouldered your bag, pulling on one of his dark capes from his closet, before taking off after him.

When you had finally caught up with him, you saw him about to be overrun. Without thinking, you opened fire dropping all three of the men within seconds.

Swinging around blaster raised, the man offered you a nod of thanks. More communication than you had had in weeks.

(And he even let you keep his cape.)

──────────────────────

A week later and you couldn’t deal with the silence anymore. If you listened to the green child coo for one more second, you thought your head was going to explode. So you sat down across from the Mandalorian and held out your hand.

“I’m Y/N. I worked under Commander Trax before being basically kidnapped by you. I was to retrieve you for…. I’m not even sure who but I’m guessing it’s the people that hired you to find the green baby over there.”

The man looked out your outstretched hand.

He sighed (his favorite pastime) and you waited a moment, hoping he would respond.

And when he did your heart skipped a beat.

His gloved hand engulfed yours.

“Y/N. I know of you. Commander Trax is good people. My family has worked with her in the past. You’re a bounty hunter?”

“More or less.”

“Family?”

“No.”

“Killed?”

“Yep.”

“That must be lonely.”

You froze, swallowing hard, “Well, I’m used to it. Especially after spending two weeks with a helmeted man who doesn’t talk.”

He was quiet for a few minutes before moving closer to you.

After a second, he began to speak, softly and slowly about how his family had died when he was younger. How the Mandalorians had taken him in as a foundling and made him who he was today. How he had a family and friends. But had lost too many good people when the Empire fell. After losing his own partner, he swore never to get close to anybody again. He dedicated his time and earnings to sponsor new foundlings.

As he continued speaking, you began to relax in his presence. Everything he spoke of was different than your life but it felt almost the same. You had both experienced your fair share of loss and pain. The way you distanced yourself from others to avoid making connections you would ultimately lose in the fight. Or the way that you followed orders because they had been drilled in your head at such a young age.

A few days later, you finally got up the nerve to ask him where you were headed.

“Need to know.” Was his response, but you could hear the smile on his face.

You were finally starting to be able to read this man. This man who seemingly showed no emotion. But he did. If you looked and listened close enough.

You smiled, “Could we at least spar or something to pass the time? I need to be prepared if something happens.”

“Nothing will happen.” But his voice wavered. He cleared his throat to play it off, but you caught it.

“Something always happens.”

His head turned to yours and though you couldn’t see his eyes you knew he understood.

──────────────────────

You ducked as a fist came flying at your head, a smile growing on your face as you knew exactly what your opponent’s next move would be.

Or so you thought.

Your arm darted out, ready to slam into his stomach, but before you could make contact, your legs were swept out from beneath you, and you slammed to the ground.

You slammed your fists into the ground as the man above you chuckled.

“I told you. You won’t succeed”

You tried to push yourself up, but your arm screamed in pain and you crashed back to the ground with a yelp. Taking a deep breath, you blinked away the sparks of light dancing across your vision, letting out an exaggerated groan as a foot lightly kicked your side.

A hand came into view.

Taking it, he hauled you up onto your feet. 

“Enough.” He warned.

Flashes of light were still sparkling across your vision and your body felt as if you had fallen 10 stories, but out of habit, your leg slid back as you lifted your fists.

“Again.” You pleaded.

The man hesitated before his arms rose once more.

You rushed forward but realized too late that he was going to take you down. He swept your legs out again, but this time you took him down with you. You squealed as you realized you were going crash to the ground, the heavily armed man on top of you. But at the last second, the man twisted, taking the brunt of the fall as you fell on top of him.

“Ow.”

The man beneath you snorted.

You pushed yourself up on his chest so you could see his masked face. You smiled at him widely. And then froze, as you watched his hand come up slowly before brushing a piece of hair out of your face. His gloved thumb brushed across your cheek and you leaned into his hand.

“I-“ But before you could, a cooing sound startled the both of you.

Your heads shot to the side, catching sight of your little green friend standing not five feet away from the two of you.

Stumbling to your feet, both of you refused to look at each other.

You cleared your throat before rushing over to the little green guy before picking him up, “What are you doing over here!” You exclaimed, before placing him back into his orb. 

“This isn’t over.” The Mandalorian said as he passed by you, a hint of a joke in his voice. 

You sighed in relief, teasingly flipping him off, before quickly rushing out of the room your face bright red.

──────────────────────

Things had been going too well for too long. You still weren’t sure where you were going but that didn’t matter as long as you were still alive.

You and the Mandalorian talked more nowadays. You shared things with each other. Talked about stupid things. He was still a man of few words, but he seemed to care deeply. Especially for the little green child he had saved. And you as well it seemed.

After that one day after sparring, you had both been cautious about your touches. Neither of you were sure what it had meant.

But when his hand brushed against your back a few days later and you didn’t jump out of your skin, the light touches began. A shoulder touch. Brushing of hands. Once he had even brushed an eyelash off your cheek.

Everything was going well.

But good things didn’t last forever.

When you landed on a new planet. The Mandalorian had stated you were going to be there for a while. So you figured you might as well go to town to find some supplies.

A woman in the market had helped you pick out some clothing and personal items. Afterward, you had thanked her profusely and tipped her generously.

As you rounded the corner, whistling to yourself, you ran headfirst into a man in black. Offering your apologies, you tried to sidestep him only to be grabbed and shoved back into the wall. You began to fight back but just as you attacked, something hit you hard over the head and you blacked out.

When you woke, smoke was billowing from a fire in front of you.

You weren’t in the city anymore. The desert sand blew around you, no civilization to be seen for miles.

You tried to move, but your arms were tied behind your back. As you tried to shuffle yourself into a seated position, a foot came out of nowhere slamming into your side, causing pain to splinter through you.

Another foot came down, slamming your head into the ground, a rock tearing into your forehead.

“Who are you?” You croaked out.

The men above you didn’t answer except for another delivering kick. And then another. Your lungs were burning from the flames and you were certain they had broken a rib.

Someone spoke, their voice muffled. You strained to hear what they were saying, but all you could hear was the pounding in your head.

“—the bounty hunter.”

“What?” Your ears were still ringing.

“Give us the bounty hunter or you die.”

“If I die, you won’t find him.” You challenged.

“Then we’ll kill her.”

Your brows furrowed, until you looked around, catching sight of the woman from the market kneeling across the fire.

“No, I don’t know where he is,” your heart was pounding out of your chest, “I promise, just let her go, I don’t even know her.”

“Too late.” The man above you smiled, his golden teeth glittering from the blaze of the fire.

You pushed yourself to your feet and managed to get one of the men on the ground, but you just weren’t fast enough. Your legs were kicked out beneath you and you were pinned to the ground, forced to watch in horror as one the other men aimed his blaster at the woman.

You screamed. And he pulled the trigger.

You couldn’t pull your gaze from that woman. Someone you had spoken a few words to. Dead because of you.

The man from across the fire came around and began speaking to you. But when you didn’t look up he grabbed your chin forcing your eyes to meet his. As he began to repeat what he said, you spit in his face, barely flinching when he punched you across the face.

And this time as you laid silently on the ground, they left you there as tears burned in your throat.

You weren’t sure how long you remained there, the fire still burning hot across your face.

You welcomed the pain and prayed for the darkness to come.


	2. Chapter 2

You had prayed for darkness. But it didn’t come.

As you laid motionless on the ground, you knew the end was near. And there was nothing you could do about it. No one could save you now. Not even your Mandalorian.

You weren’t sure how long you had been there, but soon after the fire died out you felt your limp body being dragged against the ground, the rocks buried in the sand beating into you, birthing more bruises.

When the ground beneath you became smooth and solid, you knew you had made it back inside. And although it was a welcome relief to your body, you could only imagine what awaited you.

The men dragging you stopped abruptly, your body jerking in their hold, a groan escaping your throat.

Loud footsteps echoed across the empty walls in the hall, until two boots stopped in front of you. You swallowed hard before looking up and meeting an unknown man’s eyes. They were dark and sunken.

On either side of him stood Stormtroopers. It was then that you knew your initial suspicions had been correct. These were the men hunting down your Mandalorian and your little green friend. You could only hope that they were far away.

The older man stepped up to you and you flinched as his arm moved forward, his gloved hand slapping across your face. With a stinging cheek, you turned your gaze back toward him, meeting his eyes. His own widened minutely as if he was surprised you dared to look at him.

“Seems we have a fighter.”

He waved his arm, motioning for the troopers and men to follow as he turned on his heel.

The bare halls passed you by as you were dragged along, your gaze searching for any means of escape. But you found nothing. Just one door at the end of the hall that was quickly coming into view.

The door opened and a cold jolting gust of air settled deep into your bones as you descended the stairs.

When you reached the bottom, the contrast to the world above was disturbing. The cold stone walls seemed to be caving in toward you, the unlevel stone floor cracked, fresh blood still evident on the ground. You began to struggle against the men holding you, but their grips just tightened.

Rather unceremoniously, you were thrown into a cold and damp cell. You turned just quick enough to watch the door slam shut behind you.

And then you were alone. 

You pulled yourself across the filthy ground until you propped in a seated position against the wall.

Carefully you began to move your limbs one by one testing for broken bones or dislocations. When you thankfully found none you moved to push yourself to your feet when a twinge shot through your side and you fell with a yelp.

Tears streaked down your face as you clenched your hands tight, nails biting into your skin. You took a deep breath before pushing yourself up, your head rising, almost thinking for a second that a familiar gloved hand would be there to help you.

But it wasn’t.

You managed to make it to your feet, and as you swayed unsteadily, you took in your surroundings. Stumbling to the corner, you tried to dig at the walls in desperation, your hands turning bloody as fear settled into your bones. There was no way out of here.

With a scream of defeat, you fell to the ground in a slump.

A part of you waited for your Mandalorian to come bursting through the door. But logically you knew he wouldn’t come for you. Why would he? He had to protect the child.

You tried to rest. Tried to prepare for what was coming. You had been kidnapped before. Been tortured before. But not by members of the Empire. Commander Trax was right, you were as good as dead.

You closed your eyes but sleep wouldn’t come.

Haunting wails echoed through the stone walls and you wrapped your arms more securely around you trying to ward off the cold.

Hours passed by... And when they finally came for you, you were ready. You knocked three of them out before they were finally able to take you down.

And then you were taken to their leader.

This man. The Client as he called himself, was determined to make you talk.

He threatened. Had you beaten so frequently you were becoming numb to the pain. 

He had become so furious one day that he had a trooper stab you so deep in your side you had lost your breath. But even after that you still remained silent. He just sighed and had the troopers take you away.

It must’ve been at least a day later when you snapped and stabbed one of the troopers with a rock you had sharpened in the dead of night.

And from that moment on you, your arms and legs were shackled at all times.

He never let you have a moment of peace.

He would continue to call for you again and again. Threaten you. Beat you. Ask you the same questions over and over about the asset.

But all you did was lie on the ground, silently taking it.

──────────────────────

It could’ve been days later when the door finally opened again. Expecting it to be the Stormtroopers again, you just laid there on the ground, defeated.

But when you felt someone pulling at your chains, you looked up. It was a different man. He was much younger than the man in charge, donning a white coat, and wearing some strange type of eyewear. You had seen him lurking in the back of the room while they interrogated you.

“Who are you?” You said squinting at him, trying to steady your blurry vision, your head throbbing from the bright light in the room.

The man was twitching, wringing his hands together as he threw rapid glances at the door to your cell, “Is the asset safe?”

Your head swam and you mumbled something incoherent.

The man reached out shaking you hard and you flinched at the pain it caused.

“Is it safe?” He said louder.

You nodded.

The man visibly relaxed and your brows furrowed.

“Why do you care?” You mumbled.

Startled, the man stood abruptly.

“No, wait!” You reached out toward him, falling from where you had been propped against the wall, “Where are you going?”

“Keep him safe.”

And then he was gone.

──────────────────────

The next time you woke, you felt a familiar gloved hand brush across your face and you almost wept in relief.

It was him. He had found you.

Something soft and warm wrapped around you, and you pulled it closer, trying to breathe in the scent you had become so used to.

Through the dark, you tried to reach out to him.

Arms wrapped around you, carrying you down the hall. And as your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you tried to catch sight of his helmet. Just to know for certain that he was actually there.

But then you were dropped to the ground.

Your eyes opened.

And the man before you sighed.

“I knew I should’ve just killed you.”

“So, why haven’t you.” You croaked. You had been certain he was real this time. That he had actually come for you. But he hadn’t. This reoccurring hallucination had been haunting you for a while now. Thinking you were saved when in reality you were still a prisoner.

The Client began to pace, but your eyes were drawn to the strange man in the white coat standing behind him, wringing his hands. You met his eyes for a minute, before he looked away, scurrying from the room.

“Because I’m curious.”

Your brows furrowed, turning your attention back towards the older man.

“About the Mandalorian.”

Your heart was pounding as you tried to furtively glance around the room. This was the first time he had mentioned the bounty hunter.

“Ah, so you do know him. He’s not here.”

“Where is he?”

“That’s what I would like to know. You must have been to his hideout. His ship.” He questioned, stepping up close to you.

“No.” You lied.

The man huffed before reaching out threading his fingers through your hair, roughly pulling your head back.

“No more lies. You have wasted too many of my days.”

You spit in his face, but he didn’t even flinch. He pulled back slowly and wiped off his face with a handkerchief. Not pulling his gaze from you, he raised his hand and the door opened, a group of Stormtroopers storming into the room.

“You won’t find him.”

He let out a noise of realization, “You care for him.”

“No.” You swallowed hard, looking away from him.

He tsked, reaching out once more grabbing your chin and raising your gaze to his, “You do know that the Mandalorians are a complex people. He will never let you see his true face, his true self. Why protect him so?”

You bit your lip hard, remaining silent.

“We’re done for today.” He sighed in exasperation.

The Stormtroopers grabbed onto your arms, hoisting you up onto your feet. But as they went to turn you around, you ripped from their grasp and ran up to the man. You got within five feet of him before you felt a blaster aimed at your back.

The man in front of you seemed unconcerned as he looked down at you.

“You’re going to die.” You said.

His eyes flashed and a sinister smile crossed his face before he turned and swept out of the room.

──────────────────────

You had only just been returned to your prison when the door to your cell slammed open, the Stormtrooper who had been guarding the door falling to the floor, blaster burns smoking from his chest.

Your eyes were wide as you looked out the open door. Before you could even blink a heavily armored man flew past, his arms locked in combat with a Stormtrooper. And your heart skipped a beat as you recognized him.

For a moment, you allowed yourself to smile but then you froze unsure if this was another hallucination or if he was actually here.

You moved slowly, peeking out into the hall watching as he fought, shooting Stormtroopers left and right, knocking them down with his staff, and disintegrating them before they could fall to the ground.

You were in no shape to fight, but when you saw five troopers round the corner at his back, you swung into action, grabbing a blaster off the ground and shooting each of them point-blank.

The bounty hunter must have sensed your presence because when he finished off the last trooper in front of him, he turned slowly, his gaze landing on you.

And you could see the tension pour out of his shoulders.

This was real.

He was here.

You threw him a wicked smile.

Just as you took a step out of your cell toward him, you felt a blaster press against the back of your head. Raising your arms immediately, you dropped the gun in your hand onto the stone floor.

You both watched the Mandalorian shoot a twitching Stormtrooper on the ground before he turned his gaze to you and began walking slowly up to you.

He raised his blaster at the man behind you.

“Ah, my good friend. Come to return the asset? I’ll give you this one in return.” The Client said shoving you forward a little.

The Mandalorian stepped closer, his armor glinting under the harsh lights overhead.

“Though I wouldn’t trust this one.” He chuckled, one arm wrapping around you pulling you tighter toward him so that you covered the majority of his body.

You stiffened in his arms at that comment but refused to pull your gaze from the Mandalorian in front of you.

When he made a slight motion with his hand, you instantly knew what he planned and dropped to the ground while he shot at the man behind you.

Turning around, you prayed to see the man dead on the ground, but he was gone and before you could move to go after him, the Mandalorian threw you over his shoulder as he took off.

You bounced painfully against his armor as he sprinted to his ship. When he made it to the pit, he all but dropped you into the seat beside his before he took off fast as possible, setting course to his nearest safehouse.

You sank into the soft seat and breathed a sigh of relief. You were alive. And safe. 

A small green hand came into view as it reached out toward you and you smiled, reaching over toward him, the child cooing at you.

When you began to feel a tingle in your arm you looked down and watched as the wound begin to knit itself back together.

“What?” You whispered.

An arm pulled you back as the little green child fell back, falling into a deep sleep.

“He does that.” The Mandalorian’s voice was gruff as he pushed the child’s orb into a darker part of the ship. 

“I see. I-”

“Are you alright?” He cut you off.

You offered him a small smile, “I am now.”

──────────────────────

You must’ve fallen asleep because a while later you were shaken awake. You raised your head off of the Mandalorian’s shoulder where it must’ve fallen.

Standing, your Mandalorian offered you his hand, but with a quick look at your bloody hands, you instead grabbed onto his forearms and pulled yourself up on to shaky legs.

“When did we land?”

“An hour ago.”

You tsked in annoyed, “You should have woken me up.”

“You need to rest.” He argued.

You rolled your eyes as you slowly followed him out the back of his ship, watching as he lowered the ramp.

But when it lowered you were met with a line of Stormtroopers.

The Mandalorian shoved you back, raising the ramp back up, the sounds of blaster shots hitting outside echoing through the ship.

“How did they find us?” You gasped.

“It was you.”

“What?” Your heart was beating painfully as he turned toward you.

“You. You led them here. They couldn’t have known where I was going.”

“No, I....” Your hand involuntarily reached down to the cut on your side.

Stepping forward, his gloved hand ripped your shirt up, showing the small incision almost invisible above where you had been stabbed.

“A tracker.”

You took a step back and when you looked back up his blaster was aimed at you.

“No.”

It was if your voice had brought him to life, because he shot forward, pushing you back against the wall. His hand wrapped around your throat, his blaster resting against your side.

You had never been scared of him. Never had a reason to be. But standing there as his supposed enemy, you were terrified. 

“I didn’t know. You have to believe me. What would I gain out of being a spy?” You pleaded.

“You’re a bounty hunter, you work for money. We all do.” His flat voice struck hard as if he had stabbed you straight through the heart. “You’ve been working for them since the beginning. The Empire.”

You could feel him shaking against you, and you reached up grabbing onto his arm wishing he wasn’t wearing that god-forsaken helmet so you could see his eyes.

“Please, you know me.”

He looked at your hand and for a second you thought he believed you.

But he just shook his head.

“No.”

You growled, “You were the one who invited me along! I was more than fine being left behind but you ‘needed a crew member’ don’t put this on me.” You shoved at his armor, but he didn’t move an inch. 

You took a step toward him, he took one back.

“Tell me the truth.” His voice was low, but you could hear the slight waver.

But you just shrugged tired, “I did.”

He holstered his blaster.

“What did I do to lose your trust? Not turn you in when I found you? Save you from getting shot all those weeks ago? Help clean you up after all your fights. All those talks we had. Do you really think I faked all of that?” Your voice cracking.

When he didn’t reply, you continued motioning to your body, “Did I beat myself up for fun? Broken ribs, a black eye? Do you think I stabbed myself just to keep my cover so I could turn you in?”

His hands tightened into fists and you took another hesitant step forward.

But before you could speak, the ramp to his ship burst open and Stormtroopers began to pour in.

You flinched as the crate next to you shattered into a million pieces.

The man before you had turned away from you, running down the ramp throwing a glance back at you and his ship before diving into the fight.

You followed, jumping on a Stormtrooper, taking him to the ground before rolling off him and grabbing his weapon. You shot him before turning blasting another trooper who had just rounded the corner.

“Give me my blaster!” You yelled at him.

Everything was exploding around you but the two of you just stared at each other, the sounds fading away. As he reached down toward the blaster he had shoved in his holster, the world blew up around you. Your body flying back to slam into the wall behind you.

You blinked your eyes wildly trying to get them to focus through the dust. Your eyes were burning and you frantically rubbed your hand across your face, wincing as the dirt from your hands fell into your eyes.

Pulling at your shirt, you scrubbed it aggressively across your face until you were about to make out your surroundings.

Everything was destroyed.

Rubble was falling from buildings and smoke was rising from fires that littered the ground. The combination of dust and smoke made it hard to breathe and you couldn’t see far in front of you. As you tried to call out you choked on the dust and coughed.

You rolled over on your side trying to pull yourself up onto your feet when you caught sight of the Mandalorian lying a few feet from you. Finally stumbling to your feet, you took off towards him. You tripped over some debris, falling to your hands and knees and all but crawled over to his motionless body.

Your hands fluttered over him, hesitant to touch him.

Was he breathing? 

As more Stormtroopers exited the building before you, you hauled him up and began to drag him back up the ramp to his ship. A blaster shot landed right by your head and you dropped to the ground, pulling the blaster out of the unconscious Mandalorian’s holster before taking down the offending trooper.

You kneeled over the man beneath you, shooting Stormtroopers left and right. When you finally felt him stir beneath you, you pressed his blaster into his hand before giving him a slight smile.

“I hope you won’t forget me.”

You took a step back and as he reached for you, you threw yourself from the ship, taking the hail of bullets from the Stormtroopers.

You turned, “Go!” You screamed.

And he did.

──────────────────────

He had left.

And you were alone.

A loud explosion sounded nearby and you dove for cover, your heart racing. You reached for your blaster, finding your holster empty. He had taken your weapon....when he thought you had betrayed him.

You couldn’t blame him. But it didn’t make it hurt any less.

Another explosion sounded and you threw yourself to the ground once more, covering your head as stones rained down around you.

Using your shaking hands, you quickly shoved yourself up and stumbled to your feet, your legs weak from being shackled for so long. You clambered through the rubble, the stones cutting into your already battered hands as you tried to steady yourself. As you slipped into the building the Stormtroopers had been pouring out of, all you found was chaos.

The Stormtroopers had already torn this place apart.

And it was all your fault. You had led them here.

As you ran down the hall, you stopped picking up what looked like a metal bar, which you hoped would pass as a makeshift weapon.

Room after room was empty and you began to give out hope that the Client was still here.

As you continued running, you passed dead bodies, mutilated bodies, people crying, people fighting. The citizens were fighting back against the Stormtroopers and it looked as if they were winning. All you wanted was to stop and help them but you needed to take care of the Client first. With him dead, this whole thing would finally be over. 

When you finally reached the last room, you paused, clutching the bar tighter in your hand before pushing open the door.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

You twisted the bar in your hands and took a step forward. You could see the fear in his eyes.

“Let’s make a deal.”

You shook your head as you grew closer to him, “There’s no deal I would ever want to make with you. You tried to kidnap a child. An innocent child.”

“For the greater good.” He stood up, his eyes mad.

“If this is your greater good I want no part of it.”

“With that creature, we can do such great things. Bring back the peace to this universe that we had under the Empire.” He implored.

“I won’t let that happen.”

“You can’t stop me.” He said, but you could hear the fear in his voice.

“You’re wrong about that.” You smirked, raising the metal bar out like a sword.

The man reached down grabbing a blaster from a fallen Stormtrooper and brought it up aiming at you. He shot at you wildly, the shot going wide hitting a beam in the ceiling. You circled around him and he quickly moved trying to follow you, still shooting erratically, the shots splintering into the walls around you.

A loud cracking sound sounded through the room and you looked up watching a wide crack form in the foundation of the ceiling. As pieces of stone began to fall, you shot forward, grabbing the Client’s wrist twisting it around. You pulled the blaster from his grasp before slamming the bar of metal in your hand straight up through his stomach.

He collapsed to the ground.

And the last thing you saw was your Mandalorian standing in the doorway, right before the ceiling caved in on you.

──────────────────────

An alarm echoed loudly, the abrupt sound ripping you from unconsciousness.

A coolness spread across your brow and you squinted your eyes as they strained against the bright light in the room.

“Sorry.” A soft voice mumbled above you, turning off the offending noise and dimming down the lights.

“Where am I? What time is it?” You mumbled, pushing the hand away from your face as you tried to push yourself up.

“It’s five in the morning.” The deep voice rumbled before you, gently pushing you back down onto the bed.

Your eyes focused. It was him. He had come back for you.

“Am I in your bed?”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t exactly how I imagined it would happen.”

You heard him snort, and you chuckled lightly, pain shooting through you. He froze, his hands hovering above you, as you caught your breath. Once you settled down, he continued gently cleaning the blood and soot off your face.

He worked in silence.

You wanted so badly to ask him what had changed his mind. But you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

When he was finally finished he stood to leave, but you grabbed his arm before he could move out of reach.

“I.... would you stay?”

You wanted to tell him that you didn’t blame him. How his training had kicked in. How if you had been given time to talk to him he would’ve seen reason.

He stood motionless for a second, you and him just staring at each other. You were sure you looked worse, but the man himself looked exhausted even through all the layers of his armor. 

He gave a barely perceptible nod and for a second you thought you had imagined it. But then he moved. And settled into the chair beside the bed.

You turned on your side facing him.

You weren’t sure if his eyes were open or not, but you stared steadily at his helmeted face.

Reaching out, you touched his hand that rested on the bed and when he didn’t move it away you threaded your fingers through his and closed your eyes.

Even after everything, you realized the place you felt safest in the whole world was next to him.

“We’re going to talk in the morning.” You murmured.

“It is morning.”

You grumbled quietly before falling asleep, missing the soft caress of his hand over your hair and the quiet, “I’m sorry” that fell from his lips.

──────────────────────

It was a week later.

You were healing slowly but steadily. The worst of the pain coming from your cracked ribs and battered hands. You tried to move around more, but your masked savior had all but forbidden you from leaving the bed for more than a few minutes.

And you were going stir crazy.

He wouldn’t talk to you and he wouldn’t even allow you to see the little green child, because he kept trying to overexert himself and heal you.

However, one morning, he went into town to grab some supplies. And not five minutes after he left, you snuck out of the ship into the forest where he had landed.

It was peaceful. Far from any civilization.

Wrapping a stolen cape around your stiff body, you made your way over to the brook, sitting on a rock by the water’s edge.

Closing your eyes, you took in a deep breath, enjoying the cool air and calming sound of running water.

That’s how he found you a few hours later.

You were surprised when he settled down onto the rocks next to you, instead of reprimanding you.

You ignored him, continuing to play with the tiny child who had joined you outside about an hour before. You threw a pebble into the air smiling softly when he froze it in the air and then shot it across the brook.

When he caught sight of the Mandalorian, his soft coos toward the man who had saved him made you laugh.

After a moment, you broke the silence.

“That man.... was powerful.” You paused, “How did you get away with the child in the first place?”

“I gave it to him.”

Your head snapped to look at him, “You?...”

“And then I went back and killed everyone I could.”

“Good. They deserved it.” You looked down at your hands, still wrapped tightly with bandages, the seemingly never-ending shaking that hadn’t gone away since you had gotten back.

The man reached out, grabbing one of your shaking hands and placing it between his own.

You hummed quietly, as he sat there silently. Out of nowhere, he whispered, “I almost killed you.”

You froze. Neither of you had so much as mentioned it.

But you knew he felt guilty about it. A few days ago, you had gone to hand him his morning drink like normal, but when he had reached for it you had flinched away from him. He had immediately stood and left the room. And you didn’t see him for two days after that. 

You weren’t sure if it was for your benefit or if it was his own guilt. Either way, it had been a tense week for the both of you.

“But you didn’t.” You stated.

“But I could have. I would have.” He whispered. The tremor in his voice made your heart clench.

Turning toward him, you hesitated before you reached out, placing your hands on either side of his helmet. You leaned forward, your forehead meeting the cold of his beskar helmet.

“You wouldn’t have.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” You said.

He turned away, pulling away from you, your hands dropping in defeat.

You shivered, and he reached over pulling the cape that had fallen to the ground around your shoulders.

“What do you think they want with it?” Both of you looked at the little green creature playing in the brook, chasing after a toad jumping on the rocks.

“I don’t know.”

“What do we do now?”

“Fight back.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love all you guys!! Hope you guys enjoy!!!

“Hey, no! Put that down!”

A gruff shout pulled you from sleep.

With a groan, you rolled over burrowing back into the warm blanket, pulling the long sleeves of the shirt you had stolen over your frozen fingers.

That infuriating man refused to pay for any type of heating system on this ship, claiming his armor and your clothes would be enough to keep you both warm.

“Stop!”

A crash echoed from the front of the ship as if something had slammed into the front window.

Your eyes shot open, squinting against the sun shining into the room. You focused your eyes at the clock, groaning at the blinking numbers. You had only slept for two hours.

Ever since you had escaped from the Imperials and Stormtroopers almost a month ago, you had been jumping from planet to planet.

Two weeks ago, you had thought you found a safe place. But four days after your arrival, a mercenary had broken onto the ship, slipping through a panel in the dead of night. Mercifully, the Mandalorian had dealt with him quickly before any harm could be done. But when he showed you the fob, you knew they were still tracking the little green child.

It was then that you both decided someone should guard the ship at night. At first, the Mandalorian had claimed he would take every night and even though you knew better, you let him try. It wasn’t until two days later when he fell asleep in the middle of eating lunch that you told him you would be alternating nights.

And you had been on guard duty last night. The man and child sound asleep inside while you froze your ass off sitting outside the ship staring into the dark forest.

You landed here three days ago and although everything seemed quiet, you both knew not to risk it now.

Risk wasn’t in his vocabulary anymore. Your Mandalorian had basically become your shadow. Anytime you left the ship, he would be at your back.

At first, you found it annoying, but one day in a market, a stranger had grabbed onto your arm. And you almost snapped. If he hadn’t stepped between the two of you, you would have shot the innocent man. Now knowing that he was always just a step behind you was a weight off your chest.

Rolling out of bed, you pulled on some heavy socks grumbling at the fact that he had picked the one planet where it was heavily snowing. Running your hands over your eyes trying to rub the sleep from them, you began to make your way through the ship. As you grew closer to the cockpit you could hear muffled curses and continuous bangs.

“What on Hoth is all this racket-“ You froze, the words catching in your throat at the sight before you.

The Mandalorian was sprawled on the ground, tangled up in a net, his finger pointed sternly at the little green child perched on the pilot’s seat, who chirped excitedly when he saw you.

Your face broke out into a wide smile but before you could make a noise, the warrior moved his gaze toward you.

“Don’t even think about it.”

You nodded solemnly fighting back laughter, a small snort escaping before you turned on your heel and left the room.

Stepping to the side, out of sight, you listened quietly as the man continued to reprimand the little child quietly before explaining how to be safe around his weapons.

Still chuckling quietly to yourself, you made your way to the back of the ship where you had created a makeshift kitchen and dining area.

There was no way you were going back to bed now.

Life together had become somewhat of a domestic thing. This ship had become home. You had argued with the Mandalorian for days when he stated he was giving you his room. You had even slept in the cockpit one night just to spite him. But when he promised to build himself his own room, you finally relented.

Things between the two of you had taken some time to get back to normal. The guilt that had been eating away at the Mandalorian had faded. He didn’t tiptoe around you anymore. But you could see it in his movements and actions. He purposefully alerted you when he was around or how he never let you out of his sight. You were slowly moving on from what had happened to you. And for the most part, you had. But the lingering trauma was still there.

A quiet shuffle sounded behind you, alerting you to the child who waddled through the door. You reached down, passing him a bowl of soup. The child began to slurp happily, as you grabbed him placing him up on a chair at the table before turning back to finish cooking.

The little child had become a fixture in both of your lives. The child loved to hear you babble on about nothing. So, when you would work around the ship you would tell him what you were doing. Even the quiet warrior had begun to talk to him. Though it seemed like most of the time he was reprimanding him for touching things he shouldn’t.

“…Is that my shirt?” You heard a soft voice behind you.

Throwing a glance over your shoulder at the Mandalorian in the doorway, you chuckled, “That it is.”

“Why?”

Your brows furrowed confused at his statement, “What?”

“The shirt. Why are you wearing it?”

“It makes me feel safe.”

After a beat of silence and a slight tilt of the man’s head, you realized what you had said.

Stumbling over your words, you frantically sputtered out, “Nope, I mean the cold- uh, do you want some soup?”

You continued to babble about random things, making the small child chitter, all while ignoring the man who hadn’t moved an inch since you had spoken to him.

──────────────────────

“I need you to spar with me.”

You leaned against the opening of the back of the ship, looking down the ramp as the Mandalorian tinkered on an outdoor panel. He turned around and slowly looked you up and down. Instinctively, you stood up straighter.

He nodded, “Get dressed and let’s go.”

You had healed nicely. Your hands had healed rather quickly, barely scarred, the salve the Mandalorian rubbed on it each night saw to that. The scar on your stomach was no more than a fleeting memory. Your ribs, on the other hand, still tweaked here and there. But after a month of rest, you were getting antsy.

You hadn’t been able to keep up with your usual regime without injuring yourself further. You had ripped your stitches more than once lifting something too heavy. And you had even tried to do some pushups one day, but when the Mandalorian walked past just in time, he lifted your whole body up and placed you back on the bed with a stern warning to rest and heal.

But it had only been a month. You should be back in fighting shape in no time.

Five minutes later, you hit the ground with a thud and groaned. The Mandalorian gently kicked your side, prompting you to get up.

He held out his hand and you raised yours to his. But when you saw it shaking, you curled your fingers into a tight fist trying to brush it off and instead reached down to the ground to push yourself up.

As the Mandalorian put you through the motions, he did so slowly. You expected your muscles to do what they were used to. But your body was stiff and too slow.

As you tripped, and fell, and missed, you grew frustrated. You slammed to the ground again and again. Your body was screaming and when the man before you asked if you wanted to stop, you ignored him. You got to your feet, wiped the blood from your nose, and raised your arms to start again.

He hesitated.

But when he saw the determination in your eyes, he sighed and started back up.

He reached out to help every time you fell, but when you didn’t take his hand, he pulled back with a sigh and continued to attack you knocking you down over and over.

After completing the first few exercises, he chucked you a baton as he held out his own.

You started slowly as you felt your muscles begin to remember the exercises that had been drilled into your head. But you could feel him holding back. He wasn’t hitting you hard. And you purposefully gave him opportunities to take you down. But he didn’t.

You pushed him, “Come on, hit me. I can take it.”

“Stop.” He warned as you swung out at him wildly.

“I can take it.” You growled.

He shook his head, taking a step back as he dodged your aggressive attacks, “You just started training. You need to take it easy.”

You let out a grunt of annoyance as he easily ducked your baton again.

“You never had problems attacking me before. Don’t go easy on me now, I’m not gonna break.”

He shook his head as he slammed the baton down at you again. Your arm screamed under the pressure but you still pushed back at him.

“Come on.” You shouted, reaching out and shoving him back.

He swung out and soon you were going faster and hitting harder. Right. Left. Right. Duck. Jump.

You smiled as you landed a blow. And then another. But you had been overconfident. Without warning, just like he had done before, he kicked out your legs from beneath you.

You slammed to the ground and looked up just in time to see the baton coming down at your head. 

Only you didn’t see the baton. You saw a stormtrooper’s gun. Your eyes slammed shut, and you flinched back, as you tried to sink into the ground. When nothing hit you, you relaxed minutely.

A gentle hand touched your arm and you shot to your feet, quickly backing away from the Mandalorian. He held out his hands in a peace offering, gently placing the baton on the ground.

“I don’t need your pity.” You spit out.

He took a step forward reaching out, but you pulled away and took off down the hall.

It wasn’t until a few hours later, when you were lying on the roof of the ship, looking at the stars, that he came to you.

He laid silently next to you, giving you the choice to start the conversation for yourself.

“I thought I was ready.” You whispered so quietly that when he didn’t respond you thought he hadn’t heard you. You sat up pulling your legs into your body, holding you shaking hands in tight fists.

“It’s going to take time.”

You pressed your shaking hands to your face, “We don’t have time. I need to be strong, not weak.”

He reached out, gently pulling your hands away from your face, covering your smaller ones in his, “You will be.”

You smiled, “Stronger than you?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He chuckled.

“You know one of these days I want to spar you without your armor and see how you hold up.” You teased pulling a hand back to poke at his chest plate.

“You couldn’t handle me.”

──────────────────────

As the month drew to a close, you sat down to shift through the food and supply rations you had left. Jumping from planet to planet this past month, you hadn’t had time to check what you were low on.

You sat propped against the wall as you checked off the last box of supplies. Frowning down at the numbers in front of you, you quickly counted and rechecked finding that it hadn’t been an error on your part.

Dropping the pad to the ground, you groaned closing your eyes.

A soft coo sounded next to you, and you peeked, seeing the green child chittering in front of you.

“Hey, go get your dad will you?”

The green child chirped as he began to waddle away.

A few minutes later, footsteps echoed in the ship as they grew closer. You were still leaning against the ship, your eyes closed.

You didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“We need money. One of us needs to take a client on.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“We’re running low on food. And supplies. We’re not going to last another month. I know it’s a risk but it’s one we have to take.”

The man sighed. And you opened your eyes, smiling when you saw the child resting happily in his arms.

“Fine.”

“Great!” You smiled jumping up, “I know just the place to go.”

A few hours later, the Mandalorian landed the ship on the outskirts of a forest.

Pulling on your red cape, you skipped happily past the warrior and child on the way down the ramp, “It’s nice to be back.”

This planet was a happy reprieve to the desolate snow planet you had just been on. The forest was in bloom in colorful flowers, the green of the trees brightening up the world around you. Taking a deep breath, you walked slowly along the trail, smiling at the chirping animals in the trees. The Mandalorian was on edge as he followed behind you, looking left and right as if he expected an enemy to come flying out of the trees.

“You said you had contacts here.” His voice steady, but you know he was wary of trusting anyone.

You nodded, “When I worked with Commander Trax, she sent me here for a long mission, I lived here for a month helping the citizens.”

Stopping at a tree abloom with bright yellow flowers, you smiled pulling a few off the twigs. You turned with a smile and bent down passing one to the little green child, motioning that he could eat it. And soon he was chomping down making happy little sounds, as you all continued along through the forest. 

“Where are we going?”

“The cantina. If there’s any work under the table, it will be there. And hopefully, we’ll find my contact there. Easier than having to knock on every single door in town.”

As you reached the end of the tree line, the Mandalorian passed you one of his blasters. You rolled your eyes but shoved it in the back of your pants before you took off down the street.

It looked exactly the same. The town was small but homely. The market place bustling with merchants and buyers. You had loved living here.

As you continued down the street, you waved at the citizens you passed by. A few recognized you and greeted you by name, welcoming you back. 

The Mandalorian walked slowly behind you, the child at his side. People passing by said hello and he offered each of them a solemn nod.

When you reached the door to the cantina, you waved back at the warrior silently telling him to remain behind. But when you walked through the door and all the blasters went up, you sighed.

The Mandalorian stepped in front of the small child and pushed you behind him, his own blaster raising as his gaze scanned the bar.

You moved around him, pushing his blaster down, “He’s a friend. I promise. I’m looking for Nyko.”

Murmurs echoed through the crowd of people before suddenly everyone parted and a woman walked toward you.

You smiled and the older woman smiled widely in return, “Well look who it is!”

She waved at the other’s to drop their weapons. Everybody obeyed and immediately turned back to their own conversations, though they were still throwing wary glances at the Mandalorian, who had moved to stand silently in the corner.

The woman walked right up to you, pulling you into a hug.

“Long time no see. What are you doing here? With a Mandalorian no less.”

You nodded toward the back corner, and she responded by placing her arm around your shoulders leading you to the furthest table in the back. Your Mandalorian followed behind you like a shadow.

“We’re looking for work under the table.”

Nyko nodded solemnly, this was business, “I’m assuming it has to do with that little green fellow.”

The Mandalorian started forward but you held up a hand.

“Yes.”

Nyko nodded, “I can probably find you something, but I’ll warn you things in the underworld work differently then you’re used to around here. You’re going to need to Compete if you want to work.”

You stiffened slightly and the Mandalorian stepped closer to you.

“Got yourself a watchdog here.”

“More like a partner.”

Nyko eyed the man curiously before she waved her hand, and people appeared out of the woodwork, joining you at the table.

Papers were passed around and introductions were made. 

The Mandalorian watched in amazement as all the citizens looked and talked to you with respect.

You seemed to fit in nicely here. You looked happy.

You nodded one more time and gathered all the intel of the table, holding out your arm you waited and Nyko grabbed yours.

“Don’t wait five years next time you stop by to say hello. I wish you luck in the Competition.”

You smirked and her eyes glinted as she knew it was all but a joke to you.

Stepping out of the cantina, you began to walk back toward the ship, the Mandalorian and green child following behind. As you walked, you passed him the map Nyko had given you.

“We’re going to meet here. Gather your weapons. I will meet you once I stop by a few places to grab some supplies.”

You went to step away but a hand grabbed onto you.

“Be careful.” His voice was deep with worry.

You knew he had heard Nyko mention the Competition.

“You don’t need to worry about me here.” You offered him a sad smile.

You walked down the street missing the soft, “But I do” that fell from his lips.

──────────────────────

You hadn’t been out of sight from your Mandalorian since you got back, and it put you on edge. Although you knew this was a safe town you couldn’t help the lingering feeling that someone was going to come out of the shadows.

As you reached the outskirts of town, you reached back making sure your blaster was easily accessible. With a deep breath, you followed Nyko’s directions through the trees. Left. Left. Right. Over the bridge. Right at the yellow tree.

The Competition was infamous around here. Hunters would step forward to compete. To decide who would be given the bounty. The winner’s reward was the puck.

Your red cape swept behind you as you pushed your way through the crowds of people. There was a reason you didn’t want him here with you. Didn’t want him to see you this way.

You shouldered another person out of the way, growling when they turned around to look at you. This was a big event. Bets were placed. Winners were rigged.

But you were here to win.

You stalked up to the table in the center, people moving out of your way when they saw your red cape float out behind you.

With a grin, you shoved your way to the front of the line, pushing the man in front out of the way you slammed your hand down on the table, “I’d like to enter.”

The man behind the desk sneered at you, but that quickly changed when you placed a heavy bag of coins in front of him.

Passing you a number, he took your coins testing the weight in his hand, “Good luck.”

“I won’t need it.”

You had only competed in a Competition once before, but this one was different. There weren’t any rules. People died here. You could kill, maim, and still win.

As you stood in line with the nine other contestants, you found maybe one or two that would cause you some trouble. A man twice your size, with a knife peeking out from his sleeve. And a woman small and slim, with a wicked grin on her face, you knew a mercenary when you saw one.

The first task was easy enough. Target practice.

Top five moved on.

You took your turns throwing well, until the last shot when you purposefully missed a target.

The man next to you snorted and you feigned defeat.

Next was an agility competition.

You had never jumped on these so-called agility poles before, but your quick footwork from the workouts the Mandalorian put you through helped you fly through.

It was down to two.

You and the man with the knife.

The last task. The cage fight.

You swallowed as the mixture of cheers and boos echoed throughout the cold room, the cage closing in around the two of you.

Pulling off your cape, you quickly wrapped your hands before facing the man who stood in the way of your bounty puck.

The bell rang and with a feral grin, you launched yourself at your opponent.

──────────────────────

You arrived back at the ship, limping slightly, sporting a wide grin on your face.

The Mandalorian looked up and when he caught sight of you, stood quickly walking over, lifting your chin so he could see the growing bruise on your cheek.

You waved him off, “I’m fine.” You pressed the puck in his hand. “I’m gonna go clean up, you look into that.”

The man watched worriedly as you limped your way up the ramp.

After cleaning up, you met the warrior at the base of the ramp, he was packed and ready to go. Grabbing your pack from him, you swung it over your shoulder before following him back into town.

He worked quickly. In the few minutes you had taken to get ready, he had already scouted out where your bounty was located.

Motioning for you to do the honors, you kicked in the door. The dozen people in the room began to scatter, tripping over each other to reach the door. Pulling out your baton \, you began to knock their legs out from beneath them, only moving on when you didn’t see the face from the puck.

You grabbed the shirt of a man, hauling him to his feet, “Where is the man named Ronzan?”

The man frantically motioned to the back door. The Mandalorian shuffled over silently, his blaster raised as he kicked open the door. A scream sounded from inside and you grinned, letting the man from your grip go.

The man, known as Ronzan, was on the ground pleading with the Mandalorian standing over him.

Ronzan froze when he saw you, “I have money please.” He begged.

You rolled your eyes before reaching out and shocking the man, who fell back to the ground unconscious.

“You’re carrying him.” The Mandalorian stated, prodding the man’s body with his boot.

You looked down at the man and sighed. Reaching down you were about to haul him up when you heard a whimper echo in the room.

Furrowing your brow you began to look around the room. Pushing a desk against the wall, you pulled back the rug to find a hatch in the ground. With a quick whistle, you motioned to the Mandalorian in the corner to help you pry up the hatch.

The hole that opened up was dark and deep, the whimpers you had heard echoing from below. Reaching out, you grabbed onto the Mandalorian’s hand before stepping over the edge. The man slowly lowered you down into the dark hole. When your feet still didn’t touch the ground, you braced yourself. You squeezed his hand once and he let you drop.

You fell far, rolling once, twice, before pushing yourself to your feet. Reaching for the walls, you began to walk slowly, letting your eyes adjust to the darkness around you.

“Hello?” You called out.

You continued walking when you suddenly tripped over a chain on the ground. Reaching out to grab it, you held it as you followed it. And at the end, you found a young girl.

“Hey...”

The girl flinched backward as you reached out. You hesitated. Reaching down you pulled a tool from your pack using it to snap the chain off.

“He can’t hurt you anymore. We need to go.” You pulled the girl up, she was freezing. She wrapped her arms around you and you held her close as you led her down the cold hall.

When you made it back to the hole above, you saw the Mandalorian looking down. He vanished from view and a second later, dropped down a rope that had knots tied in it.

Placing the young girl's hands on it, you prompted her to start climbing.

When she was close enough to the top, the Mandalorian above reached down grabbing onto the girl, pulling her up easily.

The young girl looked up at the warrior in awe, her hands hesitantly reaching out to touch the cool metal of his armor.

You pulled yourself to the surface just in time to see the young girl reach up to touch the Mandalorian’s helmet. The man flinched back and the girl shot back cowering in on herself.

You rushed forward, pulling the girl over to a bench, where you kneeled down in front of her.

“He’s a friend. A Mandalorian. Do you know what that is?” You prompted.

The girl shook her head, throwing a nervous gaze at the armored man.

You offered her a smile, “Well, he’s one of the best warriors in the galaxy. He can’t take off his helmet because if he does he won’t be allowed to put it back on. And doesn’t he just look dashing in it?”

You waited for the girl to nod her head.

“Alright, well I think it’s time to go.” You held out your hand, waiting for the girl to take it.

You motioned to the man in the corner, and you could feel the glare the Mandalorian gave you underneath his helmet as he lifted up throwing the unconscious man over his shoulder.

The trek back to the underworld was long. But a little less than an hour later, you had dropped off the unconscious male and received notice that the credits would be transferred to you.

On the way back to town through the forest, the young girl began to chitter on in a different language, you nodded your head along with her every time she looked at you.

When you reached the bustling town, you leaned down to the girl, “Do you recognize this place? Does your family live here?”

The girl nodded and began to drag you through the crowds. When she reached a small hut at the edge of town, she burst through the door. Inside you heard the clatter of objects and multiple gasps and shouts.

You cautiously stepped through the doorway to find the young girl in the arms of an older woman. You stepped forward, startling the woman, but when the younger girl began to speak in a different language to her mother, she relaxed.

Reaching out, she grabbed your hand tight, “Thank you, for saving my daughter.”

You offered her a smile, as you gazed around the small hut, the open room scarce of belongings, a cluster of young children crowded together on a bed in the corner.

Clearing your throat, you motioned to the older woman, “If you wouldn’t mind, I have something I would like to show you.”

The woman nodded slowly confused, but quickly gathered her children and followed you out the door.

On the other side of town, you unlocked the door to a small house that had long since been boarded up. The woman and her children stepped through the doorway. The youngest took a step forward, throwing a glance back at you, but when you just nodded at him he smiled before taking off to explore the new house.

“What is this place?” The Mandalorian wandered around the room, his hands drifting over knickknacks on the tables. He stopped in front of the fireplace when something caught his gaze. He stepped forward, reaching out and grabbing a photo propped on the mantel. It was you.

“This is where I used to live.”

You looked down at the key in your hand before turning to the young girl beside you, “This is yours now.”

The girl wrapped herself around you thanking you profusely. Her mother tried to resist but you assured her that you knew it would be in good hands. She promised to keep the door open if you ever wanted to come back.

You nodded as you slipped a piece of paper with your contact information into her hand, “If you ever need anything.”

She nodded tears in her eyes.

──────────────────────

“How did- why-“ The man was at a loss for words as you walked back to the ship.

“After my parents died, before I worked for Commander Trax, a man like that owned me. I got hired to do some work at a young age and got in too deep before I realized he had complete control of me. Commander Trax saved me.”

The man nodded, “You changed their lives.”

You knew.

“I never told you about my helmet, how did-?”

You cut him off, “I worked with a Mandalorian in the past. I learned a lot from him. He told me about many of your beliefs. That’s why I never pried. It’s your right.”

The rest of the walk was made in silence.

When you finally made it back to ship, you paid the woman Nyko had hired to watch the little green child.

She happily passed him over, claiming he had caused too much chaos and that she was sorry for the mess he had caused on the ship.

The child settled comfortably in your arms as he chittered excitedly. You spoke softly to him in return.

As you began to climb the ramp, the Mandalorian reached out grabbing your arm, “Thank you.”

You shot him a smile.

Later that night, you were lying on the top of the ship staring at the stars. The transfer had gone through, the credits now officially yours. You had been paid handsomely.

Soft footsteps vibrated against the metal of the ship as the man settled beside you, “You could be happy here.”

“I could.” You agreed.

“You could s-“

You sat up abruptly before he could finish his sentence and he followed. Turning to look at him, you leaned over pressing your lips to the cold metal of his helmet.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going anywhere.”


	4. Chapter 4

“What about this?” You motioned to a small brown coat.

The little green child chittered softly, his ears tilting downward as he turned waddling off toward the next cart.

You sighed, quickly wishing the owner of the cart a good day before taking off after the child, who had somehow already waddled five carts down.

It had been two weeks since you won the Competition. And all was going well. The money you had won from the bounty was more than you knew what to do with.

You had put the majority of it aside for a rainy day. But the rest you decided to use to make life on the run a little more comfortable.

The Mandalorian had landed the ship on this planet a few days ago, claiming it was a good place to find mechanics and parts for the ship. With the money you had now, he wanted to update and fortify it since bounty hunters were coming after you left and right.

Just last week a ship had jumped out of hyperspace and began shooting before you even knew he was there. You had strapped yourself and the child into your seats as the Mandalorian chased the hunter down and killed him.

So, while the Mandalorian remained with the ship, you took the little one out to buy some clothes for him, the Mandalorian and yourself.

You had been in the market place for hours. You had managed to buy a few things for yourself and the Mandalorian, but when it came to the little, he disliked everything. You pointed things out and let him decide if he liked it or not. But so far he hadn’t liked anything.

He toddled around, bringing smiles to people’s faces when he reached his little hand out to greet them. He was becoming less reserved with strangers and you smiled every time his ears flicked up and he chittered happily.

He had grown since you met him five months ago and he seemed to be able to communicate more. He had even grown stronger in his powers. Training with him every day seemed to help. Even if it was just as simple as a game of catch with his favorite ball.

It was nearing dusk when the child eventually pulled on a red cape, much like your own. You turned to the woman at the cart and asked her if she could make one about his size. When she nodded you pressed the credits into her hand with a warm smile.

When you made it back to the ship, you placed the little green child on the ground and he took off toward the Mandalorian babbling happily. The man looked down, nodding back as if he understood what the child was saying.

Stepping up next to him, you sat down beside where he was working, leaning your head back against the cold metal of the ship.

“There are some helpers available for hire in the market. I was thinking of hiring a few to help you finish the ship.”

The man stood, brushing off the sand from his pants, “I can go scout them out.”

He went to walk past you, but you shot up stepping in his way, placing your hand on his beskar armor, pushing him back gently.

“You know you need to stay hidden. You can’t blend in here. I can.”

“I can do more.” His voice was deeper than normal.

Your hand patted his armor, “You’re doing enough. You can relax now.”

“I just want to protect you.” He said.

You froze and he cleared his throat, “And him.” He gestured to the little one who was chasing after a rodent looking creature.

You smiled, “I know but I need you safe and that means you need to stay in here. I’m gonna feel them out and pick up some things I bought earlier. Stay here.”

His gaze remained on you as you left the hangar, only moving when he lost sight of you. 

The green child next to him cooed and he glanced down, “Stop it.” He said. 

When you made it back into town you stopped to grab some other necessities. This was a nice planet. The people were kind. And there was an abundance of crops and materials for sale. 

Sometimes you wished you could settle down again, in a place like this. But somehow you figured it just wasn’t in the cards for you.

You couldn’t imagine life without your Mandalorian now. He had somehow become your family. You couldn’t leave him. Even for the chance at a normal life. 

After you picked up the tiny red cape and other clothes the woman had made, you stopped by the cantina to grab some food. As you sat in the back corner, enjoying your food, the table next to you began to talk in hushed whispers. Your ears strained and when you heard the word “Empire” you stiffened. 

You hunched over pulling up your hood to hide your face as listened. It wasn’t much longer before they left and when they did, you threw credits on the table, before taking off out the door.

──────────────────────

It was late when you arrived back at the hangar. The Mandalorian had long since stopped working because of the darkness that had fallen over the planet. You stormed up the ramp of the ship, startling the little green child who had been levitating a tool to the Mandalorian, the tool falling on the man’s head.

“You won’t believe what I just heard.”

The Mandalorian sat up fast, his helmet hitting the bottom of the ship.

You motioned, “Meet me inside.”

When he came storming through the door, the little green child in his arms, you began to tell him what you had heard.

But instead of being excited like you had expected, his body was tense.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for!” You exclaimed.

The man sighed, “I don’t know if we’re ready.”

“Something is brewing we’re gonna need help. You said it’s time to fight back. So let’s fight back.”

His voice was gruff, “What if it’s a setup?”

“What if it isn’t?” You shot back, “I think we should take the chance. We could finally get the intel we need.”

You stood and began to pace and the man looked at you worried.

You began to mumble, “We’re going to need help, maybe I could call one of my old contacts, but I don’t know if Commander Trax put a track on them. I don’t know if I want to get anybody involved in this.”

The Mandalorian stepped up, placing his hand on your shoulder, taking your comm out of your hand, “I have somebody.”

“You have friends?” You teased.

“Acquaintance.”

He quickly typed in a message and waited just a minute before it beeped back. He handed it to you.

“She’s on her way.”

“Just like that?” You questioned.

“Just like that.”

As you gathered what you needed in the carbo bay, you heard boots echoed on the ramp of the ship. You weren’t expecting anyone to arrive so fast, so when a strange woman entered the cargo bay, your blaster was out and aimed at her head.

In your defense, she attacked first.

Having the higher ground, you managed to knock her down quickly, flinging her blaster out of the ship. With a grunt, she swung out her leg trying to knock your feet out from beneath you. But as her leg rose, you grabbed it, flipping her over and pinning her to the ground. 

You had been sparring more and more with the Mandalorian every morning to strengthen yourself. And it was working. 

You smiled as you held her down as she struggled.

The Mandalorian stepped out from the main room, his head swiveling between the two of you.

He sighed, before walking over to you. Kicking your side lightly, you looked up at him before your gaze swung back to the woman beneath you.

“This is your friend isn’t it?”

“Acquaintance.” They both said at the same time.

You stood, holding out a hand to help her up.

The woman took it, pulling herself up. 

Looking you up and down she smiled, “I like this one.”

Your eyes narrowed as you held out your hand. She took it. 

“I’m Cara.”

The Mandalorian sighed.

The woman stretched as she walked around the ship, looking at the supplies you had been pulling out, “So what am I helping with?”

“I’m going to infiltrate an Empire gala.”

The Mandalorian’s head swiveled to yours fast, “That is not what we decided.”

“It’s the only possible option. You definitely can’t go. Pretty sure she can’t go either. So it’s on me.” You shrugged.

“But you just-”

You held up your hand, cutting him off, “I’ll be fine. I’m back in fighting shape. I won the Competition. I’m doing fine.”

“You’re barely fully healed, you need to give your body a break.” 

“This is only an intel mission, there shouldn’t even be any fighting.” You argued back. 

Cara tsked, “Hey no parental fighting in front of the child.”

The green child babbled as he walked up to the warrior woman, who bent down to say hello.

“I’ll do as I damn well please.” You said glaring at the Mandalorian, “I’m going.”

“Fine.” He turned on his heel and stalked off the ship.

──────────────────────

You tugged nervously at your clothes as you peered out of the alley at the building across the street.

Your hands shook as you made sure your panic button was in place and hidden. You sighed, balling your hands tight. He had gotten into your head. You knew it was just because he was worried. But you couldn’t infiltrate this Gala feeling insecure.

You took a deep breath running through the plan in your head one more time.

Stepping out from the alley, you lifted your head high as you weaved in and out of the townspeople. One guard stood at the entrance, but you could tell that there were others hidden amongst the normal citizens, their clothes just a little too expensive, their gazes following you as you strode up to the door.

Up close, you could see through the stained glass window. Dozens of people, drowning in glittering jewels and beautiful dresses and suits. You knew your outfit would help you fit in, but you hoped, your lack of knowledge of high society affairs wouldn’t make you stand out too much.

You walked up to the door your steps hesitating slightly as your heart started beating, unsure if you were prepared for this, not paying attention until the guard at the door barked at you.

Eyes wide you stepped up to him and you were about to walk in when the man stopped you, his arm outstretched.

You panicked, not knowing what he was expecting when a voice sounded behind you.

“They’re with me.” 

You nodded at the guard, before turning to the man now beside you, “Thank you.”

The man before you was impeccably dressed. And though he had a smile on his face, his eyes were cold.

“No, thank you. You look like the most interesting person here.” He looked you up and down, “What is your connection to the Empire? Your father?”

As you made it past the foyer and into the ballroom, your eyes grew wide at the strands of lights, the soft music playing, and the abundance of people. Turning back to the man beside you, you realized you hadn’t answered his question.

“Sorry, yes. He was murdered by the rebellion.”

He nodded solemnly, motioning for you to continue following him, weaving the two of you farther into the room.

“Ah, don’t worry they will all be eradicated one day soon.” He waved his hand absent-mindedly as his other grabbed two drinks off of one of the waiter's trays, handing one to you.

You hid your grimace behind your glass, “And you are?”

“Oh, I am Moff Gideon, at your service. Well... former Moff according to those rebel scums who took down our Empire.”

You swallowed heavily your eyes wide and you stopped yourself from taking an instinctive step back.

“I take it you know of me.” The smile that graced his face was twisted.

You bowed your head slightly trying to hide the fear crossing your face, “Of course, I am so sorry to impose, I will leave you alone.”

“No please.” He motioned, “Join me.”

As he led you deeper into the room, you glanced one more time behind you losing sight of the entrance, hoping that your Mandalorian was still keeping an eye on you.

──────────────────────

The Mandalorian laid perched on the roof across the street, his macrobinoculars following your every move.

“Everything will be fine, you don’t have to keep such a close eye.” Cara drawled, she was stretched out beside him, resting back against the wall, her eyes closed.

“Something might go wrong.” He mumbled, watching as you made your way inside the building. His eyes focusing in on the man at your side.

“You mean something might happen to your precious crewmember.” She goaded.

“What?” He growled.

She chuckled, her legs bouncing restlessly, “Oh, nothing. Just wondering when that’s going to become a thing.”

“Nothing’s going on.” He snapped.

“Sure. But you might want to make a move before someone else does.”

He stiffened as he saw you continue to walk through the room, the man who had been beside you when you entered still at your side. He watched as you stopped, holding out your hand to people in front of you.

He whistled to get Cara’s attention and held out his binoculars to her.

“Who is that?”

She took them with a roll of her eyes, putting the binoculars up to her eyes, “Ah, old governor Gideon. That man is a piece of work. Killed more people than he saved. He’s the one that’s been gathering Empire supporters.”

The Mandalorian pushed to get up, but Cara kicked out, knocking him back down.

“Stop, if you rush in there there’s a better chance of everything going to shit. Stay here and watch. It’ll be fine.”

He ripped the binoculars from her hands and looked through them once again, more tense than usual.

As the minutes passed, he began to relax. You seemed calm as you maneuvered your way through the ballroom. However, when he recognized a familiar face walk past the window, his heart stopped. He jumped up and was down onto the street before Cara could even move an inch.

Before he reached the front door, Cara tackled him, shoving him into the alley adjacent to the building.

“Are you insane?” She hissed.

He pointed toward the ballroom, “Fennec Shand is in there.”

“The assassin?” Cara sounded impressed.

“We need to abort.” He started forward again, but she pushed him back against the wall.

Voices echoed down the alley as two imperial guards walked past where they were hidden. The two held their breaths, sighing in relief when they continued past clueless of what lurked in the shadows.

Cara turned back to the Mandalorian.

“No,” She growled, “We wait for the signal.”

──────────────────────

It wasn’t easy getting away from the former Governor. You weren’t sure why he had put his sights on you.

He introduced you to many people and you mentally tried to keep track of them all. Names were flying in one ear and out the other. Most were wealthy citizens from across the galaxy. People who figured putting their stock in the Empire would help them make more money.

But they weren’t important in the long run.

The people you had to pay attention to were the Imperial generals and the ever rarer rebels turned Imperials.

Every so often you would peek a glance out the window, knowing that your Mandalorian was watching. But you were here alone, even if he was just a step away.

The first time somebody asked you why you hated the rebels, you froze. Before you could stop yourself the words spilled from your mouth tasting like poison on your tongue. As you spewed obscenities about the rebellion and how wonderful it would be to reinstate the Empire to its glory, the wealthy men and women fervently nodded in agreement.

A few even asked if you were available for hire for they needed reliable people to work for them. With a feigned smile, you just waved your hand saying you already had employment that paid well. 

As the music swelled and the former Governor finally turned his attention from you, you managed to slip away, weaving in and out of the men and women, catching pieces of conversations here and there.

_“Did you hear how he died? Apparently, his building collapsed on him._

_“Well, I heard he was murdered by a Mandalorian.” _

Your heart pounded as you slipped into a side hallway, the music and loud conversations fading away to nothing.

You leaned against the wall for a second longer than necessary to pull yourself together. 

Pulling out a tiny device, you placed it on the wall near the ground before you continued down the hallway. 

You walked down the hall nonchalantly, waiting for a guard to make his appearance. When you rounded the corner, you came face to face with one.

The guard startled, reaching out, grabbing onto you, “Excuse me. No one is allowed back here.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” You turned, allowing him to walk you back to the door you had slipped through. 

When you reached the door, you turned to look down to see the guard standing next to the device you had placed on the wall. With a smile, you pressed the button on the remote in your hand. The device beeped rapidly, and before he could move, an electric shock shooting out from the device hitting the guard where he stood. 

He fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Peering around making sure that no one had heard, you took off down the hallway. When you finally reached the locked door at the end of the hall you dropped to your knees. Pulling out your kit and began picking the lock.

“Come on. Come on.” You mumbled to yourself.

“Hey!”

A guard at the end of the hall started running towards you and you quickly pushed the panic button the Mandalorian had slipped you earlier.

You stood, putting your hands up and smiled. The guard’s brows furrowed as he made his way down the hall, his blaster aimed at you. And then the world exploded.

You dropped to the ground, the wall at the far end of the hall blowing out. The guard flying.

Quickly getting back up you went back to working on the door.

With a trained ear, you listened as your friends made their appearance.

“I am looking for someone.” His voice was loud as he shouted over the frenzied screaming of the elite. 

You smiled as the handle finally gave way under your hand and you slipped through the door.

Closing the door slowly and quietly, you turned around and quickly scanned the room. You only had a few minutes. You looked under the desk, in the cabinets, between the couch cushions. For a hidden hatch beneath the carpet. It wasn’t until you made it to the bookshelf when you finally saw a button poking out slightly behind one of the books.

Smiling, you pushed it and a hidden compartment popped out, a folder of papers there. You grabbed them, closing the compartment quietly. Just as you took a step toward the door, the handle turned and you froze. Just before the door opened you stepped to hide behind the bookshelf. 

A mirror on the back wall allowed you to watch as the Governor walked into the room, a woman following closely behind him.

“Sir, that was the Mandalorian I encountered on Tatooine.”

“I figured as much.” He fumed.

“I can go kill –“

“Later. We need to get the paperwork to the Supreme.” You clutched the papers tighter to your chest.

You listened as he walked toward the bookshelf, just a foot away from you. 

When you heard the compartment click open, you squeezed yourself tighter against the wall. His hand slammed against the bookshelf, the whole thing rattling, objects collapsing to the ground.

“Nobody leaves this building! Find it!”

You breathed a sigh of relief when the man stalked out of the room and the woman began to follow. But as if she could hear your breathing, she turned, her gaze scanning the room. You could hear her footsteps grow closer to your hiding spot. You pulled yourself tighter against the wall.

You could just see her shoulder when a shout came from down the hall and the woman turned on her heel and left.

Collapsing to the ground in relief, you quickly shoved the files you had stolen beneath your clothes. Rushing quietly toward the door, you opened it slightly, slipping out into the hall. Your head swung left and right, not sure which way. Taking off toward the left, you rounded the corner, coming face to face with the backs of four Stormtroopers. Your eyes went wide as you slowly backed up.

“Hey! You!”

You turned around feigning surprise.

A Stormtrooper motioned toward you, “Let’s go. The Gala is under lockdown.”

Entering back into the main hall, you saw the Governor directing Stormtroopers to break up guests into different groups.

You were shoved into a with a bunch of other people and soon later placed alone in an empty white room.

When the door slammed open, a man walked in.

“Good evening. I’m sure you want to get out of here as soon as I do.”

You nodded, you didn’t have to feign the fear on your face.

The man droned on and on but you could barely pay attention, your ears were buzzing and the bright white light in the room seemed to drown out your vision, “Did you break into an office? Did you still paperwork? Are you a rebel sympathizer?”

You said no to all and the man nodded before getting up to leave.

He turned his brows furrowing, “Do I know you?”

You shook your head.

“Hm. You look like someone who used to work for me many years ago. But it can’t be”

You didn’t recognize him, so why were your hands shaking so hard?

──────────────────────

“Thank you for walking me back to my transport.” You said tersely as Moff walked beside you.

The man had been waiting for you outside the door after you had been questioned. He had apologized for making you go through questioning knowing that you couldn’t have stolen anything.

“If you ever need for anything.” He handed you his card.

You took it with a shaking hand, “I will let you know.”

You nodded at him watching as he turned walking down the street. You kept your eyes on him until you could no longer see his dusty black cape.

Taking a deep breath, you walked around the block a few more times before walking into the hangar. When you saw the Mandalorian’s ship you sighed in relief.

You climbed the lowered ramp, waving at the mechanic’s you had hired who were working on the side of the ship. 

Neither the Mandalorian or Cara was back yet. While you waited for their return, you decided to change. Entering the lower level of the ship, you opened the closet to grab one of the Mandalorian’s shirts when your hand hit something hard. 

Grabbing hold of it, you brought it up. A picture frame.

As you traced your finger over the face in the photo, loud footsteps above echoed through the ship.

The modulated voice yelled your name and you walked out into the cargo bay, the picture still in your hand. 

“Where did you get this?”

The Mandalorian stepped up to you, taking it gently from your hand, “It was in your old house.”

“And you took it?” Your brows furrowed.

“You looked happy.”

“I’m happy now too.” You breathed as you looked from the photo to him.

Cara nudged him and his head shot toward her, glaring at her through his mask.

She turned to you, “Did you get it?”

“Mhm? Oh, yes.” You pulled out the file and passed it over to the Mandalorian. But instead of looking down at it he was looking at you.

“Do you want to get food?” He stumbled over the words.

You hesitated, looking from the tense man to the widely grinning woman beside him, “Sure... Cara?”

“No!” He barked.

You froze, your eyebrows raising.

He cleared his throat, “No, I mean she already has plans?” He turned toward the woman.

She shrugged with a chuckle, “Um, yeah I guess I do.”

You frowned but stepped up to her offering her your arm, “Stay close. Hopefully, we’ll be making a move soon.”

She nodded, saluting the two of you, before vanishing down the ramp of the ship.

You motioned nervously down the ramp, “I’ll go grab some food.”

The man nodded.

You raced down the street to the cantina, grabbing some food before hurrying back out the door. On your way out, you slammed into someone.

“Oh! So sorry.”

The man steadied you, “No worries, you look like you’re in a hurry.”

“I am! Have a good night.”

You hurried off down the road, missing the beeping fob in the man’s hand.

Something was different tonight.

When you arrived back at the ship, the Mandalorian had set up a makeshift table for the two of you. 

The food was good and as you ate you tried to make small talk. However, the man only seemed to nod or shake his head. 

You cleared your throat, “Are you alright?”

“Yes? Why?” He stuttered.

“You haven’t spoken in fifteen minutes.”

“I am enjoying the food.”

You opened your mouth to tell him that he hadn’t eaten anything but before you could reply, he cut you off, “Are you?”

“Yes.” You chuckled.

“Good.”

You smiled as you continued to eat, both missing the glances you were throwing each other.

──────────────────────

You were hunched over the desk flipping through the plans you had stolen when you heard the door creak open behind you.

It was late at night, the only light shining from the candles littered around the room.

“You’ve been gone a while.”

The Mandalorian had left early that afternoon to scout out some new planets to bunker down on. He had been acting weird since the dinner you shared last night. You weren’t sure why. 

And when he hadn’t been back after a few hours, you had almost left to find him. But with the little green child still on the ship with you, you couldn’t bring yourself to leave him alone or bring him with you. Especially not on a plant infested with imperials.

You scribbled a few more things onto the paper in front of you before turning around, as the man behind you still hadn’t spoken.

Squinting through the dark you tried to make out the usual shape of his armor, but when he stepped forward you could see that he wasn’t wearing it. Or his helmet.

You spun around with a squeak, placing your back toward him.

“Hey! Sorry, I took over your room but this was the only place that had a desk.”

The man behind you remained silent and your heart was in your throat as you heard his quiet footsteps on the metal floor.

A hand reached out to your arm, grasping you gently, turning you around, the bare skin of his hand brushing along your own. But before he turned you fully, you closed your eyes hard.  
You could feel his body step up close to yours, his breath warm on your face. Your heart was pounding. And you could feel that his was too.

You swallowed hard as his hand ran from your hand up your arm until it reached your face. His thumb rubbed against your cheek, his hands softer than you had imagined, the warmth of his skin burning against your own.

“Open your eyes.” His voice was still gruff even without the voice modulator from his helmet. You almost melted at the sound.

You shook your head aggressively and you could hear him let out a little sigh as his fingers teased around your lips. Involuntarily, your tongue darted out to wet them accidentally brushing against his thumb.

Your face reddened and you went to take a step back, but he just followed.

“Look at me, please.”

“But...”

“No talking for once,” he said, “just- look.”

You froze unsure what to do. But after a beat, you opened your eyes.

Your breath caught in your throat when you were finally face-to-face with the man you had spent almost half a year with. His hair dark unruly curls, his deep black eyes glistening in the candlelight.

You slowly raised your hand to his face running your fingers over his forehead, his cheeks, his stubble. The man smiled, and your fingers moved toward the laugh lines next to his eyes and the dimple on his cheek.

“Why?”

“I wanted you to see me.”

“I’ve always seen you.”

Your heart skipped a beat as his mouth curled up into a smile.

He leaned forward toward you, so your lips were just touching, but stopped there as if he was waiting for you to make the decision.

You shot forward, your fingers threading through his hair as you pulled him down, his mouth coming down hard on yours.

Without a moment’s hesitation, you pressed back. His lips were soft but unyielding against yours. A soft sigh tore from your mouth as he deepened the kiss, his arm coming up to wrap tightly around you, the other weaving through your hair to pull you even closer.

It was a rough kiss, but you expected nothing less from the two of you. You had been dancing around these feelings for too long.

You took a step back, him following as you both stumbled through the room your lips locked together.

The Mandalorian’s hands moved, scrambling for purchase on your body, settling on your hips yanking you flush against him. Your hands grabbed onto his shoulders steadying yourself and when you ensured you wouldn’t tumble over, you raised up onto your toes wrapping your arms around his neck.

He turned you and you felt his hand reach around you trying to shut the door, but when he couldn’t reach it, he shoved you back against it, finally slamming it shut.

He pushed you flat against the door, his hands tight around your waist while your nails scratched through his hair, eliciting a deep moan from him.

You pulled your face away with a gasp and tilted your head back, your eyes snapping closed with a moan when you felt him pepper kisses along your jaw and down your neck.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

Your hand grabbed the back of his head, and you pulled him toward you until your foreheads were touching, “You are never going to lose me.”

And once again you pulled him down until his lips met yours. This time the kiss was softer, slower. And you savored the feeling of his lips on yours.

As your hands ran through his hair, his slipped under the back of your shirt, his hands burning like fire against your skin.

You pulled away with a gasp and he pulled back his eyes searching your face. With a smile, he reached up, his fingers dancing across your cheek before he brushed a piece of hair back behind your ear.

You leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to his cheek. And then his forehead. And then his dimple.

He pulled back and smiled at you. That smile was becoming your new favorite sight in the world.

And you replied with one of your own.

──────────────────────

That night you found yourself sitting at the desk in the corner, while the Mandalorian slept peacefully in the bed.

Your eyes were heavy and you couldn’t seem to focus on the words in front of you. Your eyes kept slipping shut, but you couldn’t give in until you found out what they were planning for the little green child.

You flipped one more page with a sigh when you started. Sitting up straighter you flipped back to the previous page and read.

“They’re trying to clone him...”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I LOVE YOU ALL!!! I hope you guys now I read each and every one of your messages/replies and you all kill me with kindness thank you. This chapter fought me tooth and nail so I hope it’s alright because AHHHHHH but it’s setting up for an INSANE next chapter. Once again lemme know if you wanna be tagged! Hope you guys enjoy!!!!!

A gentle touch sweeping up and down your arm pulled you from sleep.

“If it’s before lunch I really don’t want to be awake.” You mumbled into the soft pillow your head laid on.

The pillow beneath you began to chuckle and your eyes shot open, freezing as you recognized the familiar body you were lying against.

“Oh. Oh, that wasn’t a dream?” You whispered softly.

“No, not a dream.”

You reached out, your fingers spreading out as you slid your hand across his stomach, feeling the softness of his body instead of the armor you were used to. You watched as his own hand reached out and smiled as his fingers threaded through yours.

You pushed yourself back a little so you could meet his eyes, which were still heavy with sleep. You released his hand and reached out tracing your fingers over his face, much like the night before. His features were clearer in the light of day. And you wanted to memorize every inch of him.

His mouth curled up into a smile and your breath caught as you saw his deep brown eyes sparkle from the sun streaming into the room. Your hand brushed over his dark hair, smirking at the unruly pieces sticking out all over the place. 

“You’re okay with this?” You said in wonder as your hand dropped scratching over his stubble, smiling at the feel of it under your fingers.

The man nodded, his eyes steadily holding your gaze.

“The Mandalorians rescued me and brought me into their family. All we had was our armor and each other. They were all I knew for years. But you showed me that family can also be two forlorn bounty hunters and a fifty-year-old child. I want to be that with you.” He cleared his throat.

You smiled widely as he looked away, his cheeks slightly reddening.

“As long as you’re comfortable, so am I. Though I’m not sure how he’s gonna feel.” You motioned behind him.

The Mandalorian turned over in the bed, watching as the small child waddled through the doorway into the bedroom. When the child’s gaze raised to the two of you and he met the Mandalorian’s eyes, he let out a little screech and quickly scurried out of the room.

“Well, that was heartbreaking.” You giggled burrowing your head in the man’s shoulder.

The man sighed.

You pressed a kiss to his cheek, “Don’t worry, I still like your face.”

“I guess that’s well and good.” He muttered.

You snuggled back down into the bed, “Now can I go back to sleep? I was up late last night.”

The man nodded, leaning in a pressing a gentle kiss to your lips, watching as you drifted off to sleep not a moment later. He carefully detangled himself from you, before sliding out of the bed. Reaching down, he pulled the blanket over you. Gently he ran a hand over your face, watching as a smile pulled at the corner of your mouth in your sleep.

──────────────────────

You woke suddenly, your heart racing. You shot out of bed tripping over the blankets that had tangled between your legs as you tried to make it to the desk in the corner, where the stolen Imperial papers sat.

How had you forgotten?

With the papers once again in your hands, your heart dropped. It hadn’t been a dream. The plans laid everything out. Though you didn’t know what most of it meant, you knew that they were trying to make a new group of clone troopers with what they called “the force”. 

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you sent a message to Moff Gideon letting him know that you would be remaining on the planet for the foreseeable future.

Not wanting to lie to your Mandalorian, you left the ship in a hurry, yelling over your shoulder that you would be in town for the rest of the day.

As you walked through town, you could see the Imperial spies following you. You wanted to lose them but you knew that would draw attention to yourself. So you continued on your way pretending that you didn’t see them.

When you comm buzzed, you looked down. Seeing an invitation to join the Governor for lunch, you swallowed hard before starting in the direction of the address he had sent you.

It was a long walk and as time passed you began to hesitate. You glanced over your shoulder more than once. You shouldn’t have gone without backup. You had almost convinced yourself to leave when you caught sight of the large house at the end of the street. 

This was it. 

You stepped up to the door, your eyes wide. You were questioning if you had made the right choice. Raising your hand you went to knock but before you could the door opened.

A well-dressed man ushered you inside without a word. He refused to meet your eyes as you followed him into the house, his pace quickening as you entered the foyer.

You cleared your throat, “I’m here to see- wait!“ You yelled as he scurried off disappearing down the hall before you could finish your sentence.

“That can’t be good...”

And you were left alone in the golden foyer.

Taking a tentative step forward, you began to explore. You walked slowly down through the house, stopping to peer into each room. When you reached the end of the hall, you turned into what looked like a small library. Stepping up to the bookshelf, you pulled a book off flipping through curiously.

The hair on the back of your neck stood up as you placed it back on the shelf. Pretending to ignore the feeling, you moved further into the room, your hand reaching toward a knick-knack on the ledge of the fireplace.

“I wouldn’t touch that.” A sharp woman’s voice echoed through the room.

Snatching your hand back, you spun around, finding an immaculately well-dressed woman standing in front of you. Your brows furrowed as you turned toward the entrance, wondering how she entered the room without walking past you.

Shaking your head, you stepped up, an easy smile gracing your face, “I’m sorry I have a meeting with—"

She looked down at your hand in disgust and you pulled it back with a frown.

“I know who you are. I wanted to meet you first. See if we could trust you.” Her voice was deep as she began to circle you. 

“How will you know?”

She chuckled darkly, “I’m a good judge of character. Moff tends to get overzealous with his little pets and doesn’t properly assess them out. I make sure he stays safe.”

Before you could reply, a painful pressure pushed at your head and your brows pulled together in agony. You cleared your throat, trying to focus on the woman as she took another step toward you.

“That’s my secret.” She grinned.

Your teeth gritted as you tried to force the pressure from your head. The woman’s eyes narrowed and the pain grew even stronger.

“Enough, Mera.” The Governor stated as he walked in, pushing past the woman, greeting you with a smile.

The pressure vanished instantly from your head. You shook it once, before turning smiling at the man before you.

“Moff, how good to see you.”

“Ah, my new friend. I am so happy you are remaining on planet for a while. This is amazing news. My friends cannot stop singing your praises and I am sure you will fit right in during my meeting today. Before we continue I do want to apologize once more for our last parting and your interrogation.”

“Oh, no harm done. You did what had to be done. Did you ever find what you were looking for?”

He waved his hand in exasperation, “No, but we did execute a few people and I have some older backup papers that I can give to--.”

The woman following behind the two of you cleared her throat.

The Governor sighed, “Oh hush Mera, I can trust this one.”

You spoke up pressing for more information, “Give to who?”

“The Supreme Leader. The one who will eventually lead us to greatness.”

You nodded your heart beating. This was the man you would have to ultimately take down. 

“And is he or she here?”

The man let out a loud laugh, “Of course not. Come. Come, I want to introduce you to some more people.”

He led you into a room full of people, motioning for you to take a seat at the table. As you passed by you nodded to those you recognized from the party and quickly introduced yourself to those you didn’t.

The Governor stood at the head of the table, his arms spread wide, “My friends, The First Order is rising. We have funding. We have support. We have new friends. Our universe has fallen apart. We have people that need to be governed. I am here to create order in this lawless galaxy. And we will start anew.”

The applause and cheering that burst from the men and women echoed in your head for the next few hours.

Once the dinner began, your mind was swimming.

There were so many conversations happening you weren’t sure what to pay attention to. It wasn’t until the man next to you mentioned “the force” that your head snapped toward him.

“Ah, interested in that, are you. You must have heard about the Jedi of old?”

You nodded, you had heard stories, legends.

The man leaned in and whispered, “Well I heard the Supreme Leader has found a force-sensitive child to train. And that he is going to turn him to our side to use against the New Republic and their stupid rebellion.”

You didn’t pay attention to much after that. The man beside you was still rambling about something. You nodded every now and then appeasing him.

But when a familiar man walked past you, you froze.

The man from the market.

He stopped at the head of the table to talk to the Governor, a blinking fob in his hand.

His gaze raised and met yours and he smirked. He knew you.

Your heart was in your throat as the man left the room. Your hand inched to move to your comm but you knew you would be caught. You just had to rely on the fact that you knew the Mandalorian could take care of himself.

──────────────────────

When you were finally able to excuse yourself a few hours later, you rushed back to your ship, praying that the man with the fob hadn’t found them.

You stormed up the ramp, bursting into the storage room, startling the young child, who was sitting next to the Mandalorian.

You sighed in relief, breathing deeply trying to catch your breath.

“Where have you been?” He questioned. 

“Everting’s okay here?” You responded back with a question, your voice wavering.

The man nodded, but his brows were furrowed as your gaze swept the ship as if someone was going to jump out.

“Are you alright?” He stood, moving in front of you, trying to meet your eyes.

You waved him off, “What? Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

“Where were you?” He repeated.

You froze, hesitating before meeting his eyes. They were filled with worry as he looked down at you, his hand reaching out to grasp your arm.

You sighed, “With Moff Gideon.”

He growled, his grip tightening on your arm unconsciously, “Why?”

“Last night, I found something in the papers. About cloning.” You gazed down at the child, smiling as he held out his ball to you.

“They want him for his powers.” The Mandalorian said.

“Yes. Moff has a woman like him.” Your brows furrowed as you rubbed a hand over your forehead, “She tried to read my mind I think.”

“You’re not safe there.”

You shrugged, “Maybe not. But I need to get more information.”

“Not if you’re in danger.”

You swallowed, “There was also a man with a fob there. I saw him last night in the market. I think he knows I know you.”

The Mandalorian stepped around you and you followed him out into the cargo-bay.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re leaving.” He stated.

Your eyes widened and you stepped in front of him. He was angry, his eyes were blazing as his gaze traveled down the ramp as if he was waiting for the hunter to appear.

You reached out, placing your hand on his chest, “Let’s not be hasty. Let’s eat and talk some more.”

The man nodded. He waited until you went back into the ship before sweeping around the outside to make sure everything was locked up tight.

When he made his way back inside, he found you on the ground in your bedroom, placing the little red cape you had bought the child on his back. 

The green child chirped happily as he walked around his little red cape floating behind him.

The Mandalorian watched as you laughed along with the child, but the joy didn’t reach your eyes. You were hiding something.

Later that night, you laid in bed, watching as the Mandalorian rid himself of his armor. He had convinced you to let him check the town for any sign of the bounty hunter. But when he found nothing, he had returned disappointed.

Staring off into space, you didn’t see him settle next to you in bed and startled slightly when he leaned down to press a kiss to your shoulder.

Brushing it off, you turned with a smile, you caught his lips with yours, in a gentle kiss.

Laying down, you motioned to the man and he turned burrowing his head against your stomach. Your hands threaded through his hair gentling detangling the pieces, the man basically purring against you. His hand slipped under your shirt his bare hand stroking your skin lightly. 

“I have a plan.”

The man hummed.

“You have to leave me here.”

The man’s eyes popped open, “I have to what?” 

He sat up and so did you, your hands wringing together.

“If you’re here – if you’re both here, then they’re going to keep coming. You’re in danger. I need to stay. This might be what helps us take them down. Keep the little one safe.”

“No.”

You sighed, “It makes sense.”

“I am not leaving you here.” He growled.

You put your hand over his mouth, “It won’t be for long and I’ll be safe I promise. It’s just for gathering intel. I have a chance to make a real difference here.”

“But I won’t be here to help you.”

“But you’ll both be safe.” You whispered.

He shook his head, turning over placing his back toward you, “We’re not done discussing this.”

You nodded.

You laid down staring at his back. Slowly you reached out toward him but pulled your hand back with a sigh. Turning you placed your own back to him.

Not a minute later you felt him turn and pull you toward him tightly. You grabbed his hand in yours, squeezing it tight. He squeezed back. 

You both knew you had made up your mind and there was nothing he could do to stop you.

──────────────────────

_One month later:_

You watched as the whip came down hard on the young boy, slicing through his back. You bit down on your lip to stop yourself from screaming at the trooper to stop. The whip hit again and again and your hands began to tremble as the boy laid motionless on the cold stone ground.

As the blood began to bleed through the stones, you closed your eyes. A vision of a whip coming down at you and the stinging pain in your back causing you to suck in your breath in pain.

Your eyes shot open.

The whip came down again and again on the boy. You had lost count. But this was well past the normal amount of lashings. You went to take a step forward when the deep rumble of a man’s laugh startled you.

“I see you like watching as much as I do.”

You stiffened slightly as Moff Gideon strode up beside you, his eyes solely focused on the almost unconscious boy in front of you. A twisted grin graced his face as he watched the trooper’s arm raise and drop again and again.

You cleared your throat, “Shouldn’t they leave him alone so he can heal and get back to work?”

The Governor tsked, “No. We can just hire others.”

The man raised his hand and the trooper looked up before reaching for his gun. You closed your eyes just in time to hear the shot.

You turned. Your head hanging low, hiding your pained expression from those around you.

A familiar pressure pushed at your head and you grit your teeth as you lifted your gaze watching as the woman in white walked through the arch toward you. She took a step forward, her heels clicking like daggers against the stones beneath her. Reaching out, she grabbed the Governor’s chin, her sharp nails cutting into his face as she pressed a kiss to his cheek; her eyes, however, focused solely on you.

You had never understood what people meant when they said someone had dead eyes. But this woman – sometimes you believed she wasn’t human. No emotion. No love. Just emptiness.

You met her gaze, keeping your face impassive, the normal prodding feeling intensifying against the wall you were projecting in your mind. 

After spending a month with this woman, you had spent hours training yourself on how to block her out of your mind. If you visualized a wall, she would hit a wall. You could only hope that it worked. 

Her brows furrowed before she released, her gaze dropping from you and turning toward the young girl beside her. She grabbed her face roughly forcing her gaze at the boy on the ground.

“This is what happens when you disobey. Do you understand?”

The girl stayed quiet, knowing if she opened her mouth she would be next.

“Excellent.” She smiled. Mera released her with a jerk, the young girl’s head snapping sharply to the side.

Fury built in your stomach, as your hand reached down for your blaster. But you stopped, your eyes following the young girl, her shoulder’s slumped as she moved away, backing herself against a wall. Reaching into your pocket instead, you pulled out the tiny amount of money you had left. As you passed by, you stepped up to the young girl, quickly pressing the credits into her hand. Her eyes widened. You nodded.

“Dinner is being served.” A voice echoed through the corridor.

The Governor called for you when he realized you weren’t behind him. And without another glance behind, you turned quickly hurrying across the cobblestone toward the man. As you shuffled along beside him, the people on the streets quickly scattered out of your way.

When had this nightmare become your life?

──────────────────────

The Mandalorian hit the heavy bag over and over again. He wasn’t sure how long he had been going. Right. Left. Right. Duck. His hands screamed as they continued to slam into the bag, his breathing unsteady under his helmet.

A hand grabbed onto his shoulder and he turned, immediately swinging out at the offender.

Cara ducked out of the way, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.

“You’re getting sloppy.”

The man pulled away with a grunt and turned back to the heavy bag, preparing to begin again when Cara grabbed his arm once more, “Stop, this isn’t helping anything.”

“And?” He said yanking his arm away once more, refusing to meet her eyes, pretending to ignore the look of concern on her face.

It had been over a month since he left you behind.

And he hadn’t been able to get you out of his mind since. He hadn’t realized how much of a fixture you had become in his life. And it didn’t feel right without you.

He couldn’t sleep. Barely ate. When he wasn’t flying or training, he was staring blankly at a wall, wondering if you were still alive. 

The memory of you waving at him as he flew away was burned into his memory. Your sad smile the last thing he saw, almost broke him in half. As he had soared into the stars, his hand had dropped, ready to turn around.

If Cara hadn’t forced his hand, he would have.

You had asked Cara to go with him for that exact reason. To make sure that he stayed away until you called him back. You both knew that if he was left to his own devices he wouldn’t wait for you to call, he would be back in a heartbeat.

“You did the right thing. You both did.”

The Mandalorian remained silent for a moment.

“We did the right thing.” He droned on in monotone as if he had become so used to saying it.

Cara looked at him, not believing a word from his mouth, but nodding nevertheless.

Later that day, as the Mandalorian made his usual afternoon drink, he didn’t realize until too late that he had made a cup for you. When he realized you weren’t standing over his shoulder complaining about how he made it too sweet, he froze. His hands shook as it hovered over the cup. He let out a shout, sweeping it on the ground, before storming out of the room. 

The little green child had been taking it even worse than the warrior. The first few days he had spent aimlessly roaming the ship trying to find you. And now every morning, he had taken to standing in your bedroom, chirping sadly, his little red cape spread out behind him.

Every day with a heavy heart, the Mandalorian would pick him up, trying to distract him with his favorite ball. But when the child wasn’t looking the warrior would stare off into space, lost in his own thoughts, thinking that nobody was watching.

But Cara was. 

And as they continued to jump from planet to planet, waiting for the signal to go back, Cara watched as both the Mandalorian and child lost a bit of themselves without you.

──────────────────────

You had finally run out of luck.

You gripped your blaster tight as you circled the men in front of you, their own blasters aimed at you.

“You’re the Mandalorian’s little pet. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before.” The Governor spit.

You raised the blaster at the Governor, the Stormtroopers moving to stand in front of him as your finger began to squeeze the trigger, “You’ve failed. I have your plans. I know who’s working with you. We’re going to stop you. You won’t get away with this. ”

Over the month you had lived here, you had managed to gather generous amounts of information against this new First Order.

It was the bounty hunter that had finally turned you in. You weren’t sure what had taken him so long. Or why he had done it today. But you were done for. 

“Too bad you won’t be alive to share it.”

The Stormtroopers rushed at you and your eyes widened as you pulled the trigger desperately, but you were overrun and no sooner thrown into a cell, chained to the ground.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes later when your door opened. When you were met with just silence, you thought maybe you had imagined it. But when you felt someone pulling at your chains you looked up. It was the young girl that worked for Mera. You had never learned her name. But you had always made sure she had food, water, and something warm to wear. She couldn’t have been more than eleven.

The young girl did some motions with her hands and your brows furrowed. But when she did them again the same exact way, you sat up. She was communicating. You had seen the Mandalorian communicate the exact same way before. 

“You’re going to get me out of here?”

The girl’s face lit up and she nodded motioning down to your chains.

You pulled at them, the chains clattering loudly against the stone floor, “I can’t get out.”

She held up a finger and reached down into her pants pocket, pulling out a key. Your eyes widened as she held it out to you.

“Thank you.” You said reaching out and taking the key, “I’m gonna get you out of here.”

The girl smiled sadly and shook her head, beginning to walk backward.

“No, wait where are you going!”

A loud explosion sounded outside the door and you threw yourself to the ground, covering your head as stones rained down around you. And when you looked back up, the girl was gone. But where she had once stood, was a hole blown through the wall of the cell.

Using your shaking hands, you quickly unchained the locks and stumbled to your feet. You clambered through the rubble, the stones cutting into your hands as you tried to steady yourself.

You took a deep breath and shot into the hall, grabbing a stray blaster from the ground. The wealthy men and women you had spent a month with were screaming and shoving each other right trying to escape the stones falling from the ceiling. You were pushed left and right and stumbled unsteadily into a smoky eerily quiet room.

You could hear the near-silent footfalls as they walked through the smoke. Moving with a predator’s ease that made you grip the blaster and aim it into the unknown.

“Stop!” You screamed, your voice echoing through the decimated room. 

You began to creep cautiously around the debris on the ground, circling wide trying to find the person hidden.

As a man emerged from the smoke you took an unsteady step back, stumbling over a piece of rubble.

With a shuddering breath, you stepped forward in a daze.

And then you were sprinting across the room, dropping the blaster to the ground as you slammed into the man in front of you.

He pulled you to him, his arms wrapping tightly around you.

“I thought you were dead.” 

“I’m alright.” You whispered.

For a moment, just a moment, you had thought he wasn’t here. But he was. You could touch him. He was solid. He was here. And you could feel his heart beating hard under your hand.

Your throat began to burn at the smoke in the room and he turned leading you out into the fresh air of the marketplace.

You turned around, shoving him back, “You weren’t supposed to return until I sent the signal. Why did you come back?”

The Mandalorian waited for a moment, watching as your chest heaved. And then he reached out. Cradling your face. His gloved hands stroked over your cheeks and he let out a heavy sigh.

“They took him.”

“What?” You whispered.

Pulling back the Mandalorian reached down before holding out a torn small red cape out to you. 

_“They took him.”_

You reached out, grasping the tiny cape, your fist tightening around it.


	6. Chapter 6

You sat motionless on the ground. Quiet. Broken. Staring blankly at the wall in front of you.

The Mandalorian fussed over you, his hands running over your body, pulling at your clothes, looking for broken bones, bruises, or cuts.

But you knew there were none. You hadn’t been injured. You had just blown your cover. Were you the reason the little one had been captured?

That bounty hunter had known the whole time that you were working with the Mandalorian. But he had waited to tell the Governor. Was it so he could track down the child? 

If you had just taken him out when you first recognized him, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

This was all your fault.

The Mandalorian’s hand brushed across your cheek and you flinched. You swatted his hand away. But when it rose back up, once more brushing over your cheek trying to guide your gaze to his, you growled, shoving him back before pushing yourself to your feet.

“Stop.” The man said.

“Tell me again.”

The Mandalorian sighed, sitting down heavily in the chair behind him, his hand rubbing over his face. His face was bruised, lip split. But it was his eyes that were the worst, they were dull and sunken as if he hadn’t slept in days. 

“This isn’t helping anything. Will you please sit down?” He pleaded.

“No!” You screamed, running your hands through your hair.

He remained silent as he watched your control waver.

“They have him.” Your voice cracked, “They have him. And we have to get him back. I didn’t go through hell this past month just to lose him. All of this was meant to save him. Was I the reason he was taken? I-”

Your hands slammed into the table in front of you, the frustration and anger building up inside you. You grabbed the lamp off the table and threw it forcefully against the wall watching calmly as it shattered into a million pieces. 

The Mandalorian stood abruptly, reaching out to grab your hand, trying to stop you from causing more destruction.

“Look at me.”

You shook your head, pulling your hand away.

He reached out once more, leaving his hand in front of you, waiting for you to take it yourself.

“Look at me.” He said softer this time.

You swallowed hard, but finally looked over and met his eyes, your vision blurring over as tears threatened to fall. You reached out grabbing his hand, his fingers threading through yours.

“We’ll get him back.”

“But what if we don’t.”

“We will.” He promised.

He pulled you close, your arms wrapping tightly around him. As he leaned down pressing a kiss on the top of your head the tears you had so desperately tried to prevent began to seep into the man’s shirt as he held you tight against him.

“Let’s try to get some rest.”

You tried.

But you couldn’t sleep.

You laid awake, your gaze firmly fixed on the ceiling above you. You could sense the man beside you, still awake as well. 

Your mind was swimming with a sea of possibilities. All you could think about was how scared the little one must be. How you were safe and sound on this ship, his home, while he was alone with strangers. With former members of the Empire. 

You must’ve fallen asleep from pure exhaustion because just a few hours later you woke with a startle. Your heart was pounding as you took in your surroundings.

You couldn’t sleep for more than a few hours.

Living in Moff Gideon’s mansion for over a month had trained you on how to survive with little sleep. 

You had not trusted one person in that house. And you were too vulnerable during sleep. It had all started just a few days into your mission when you had woken to find a stranger in your room. He had claimed he had gone into the wrong room, but the blaster at his side said otherwise.

Wide awake now, you reached out for the Mandalorian who should’ve been resting beside you. But when your hand just hit the sheets of the bed you frantically glanced around the room, sighing in relief when you saw the Mandalorian sleeping in a chair next to the bed. His hand resting just an inch away from you. 

He looked exhausted, the lines around his forehead more pronounced, the bags under his eyes dark. You ran a hand over his hair and smiled softly when he hummed peacefully.

Pushing yourself up, careful not to wake the sleeping man, you stepped into the refresher attached to the bedroom. You groaned slightly, catching sight of yourself in the mirror. You were still covered with dirt and blood and now understood why the Mandalorian had been worried.

You ripped at the imperial clothes you donned, tearing at the symbol adorning the sleeves, burying them deep in the trash can. Looking back into the mirror you gazed at your reflection, finding someone you barely recognized anymore. 

With a sigh, you changed into the spare clothes that had been left in the bathroom, when you heard a panicked shout from the bedroom.

Rushing back into the room, you saw the Mandalorian, blaster in hand, about to race out the door.

“Hey. Hey. What’s going on?”

After a second, the warrior seemed to register your presence and rushed toward you, pulling you into his arms. He buried his face into your hair, breathing you in.

You felt him relax and you tightened your grip on him, “I’m here.”

Threading your fingers through his, you led him back to the bed and laid down with him. You waited until he relaxed against you and began to run your hand over his hair until you were sure he was asleep. 

The next time you woke the Mandalorian was gone.

Grabbing the blanket at the end of the bed, you wrapped it around you before walking out into the ship, following the loud sounds down the hall, finding the Mandalorian standing before a heavy bag, his back bare and covered in sweat. You weren’t sure how long he had been here.

“Hey.”

His arms faltered for a second before punching the bag once more harder, the rafters shaking. You watched as his shoulder’s dropped as he turned.

“Talk?”

Just one shake of his head was all the answer you needed.

You nodded sitting down and watched as he continued to beat the bag in front of him.

You knew that the two of you wouldn’t be able to run from your demons for much longer. But neither of you were ready to talk about it yet. And for the time being, that was enough.

──────────────────────

But it wasn’t enough.

The Mandalorian wanted to form a plan before running into the belly of the beast. He wasn’t even sure the child was on this planet anymore. Logically, they would have taken him and run. 

But you couldn’t sit around anymore. You wanted to hit them hard and fast. If they didn’t have the child, so be it. They still deserved to die.

So later that day when the Mandalorian wasn’t paying attention, you raided his weapon cabinet and slipped out of the ship. 

You knew if you had asked, he would’ve gone with you. But you didn’t want him to. This was something you had to do alone.

It was only a few minutes later when you arrived at the imperial hideout.

You kicked in the door, smiling when the troopers stood, their blaster’s drawn.

You twirled the staff in your hand waiting for the first trooper to make a move. When he did, you swung out your arm, slamming the end of the staff into the side of the trooper’s head. He gave a sickening cry as he collapsed to the ground. Stepping onto his armored chest, you propelled yourself into the air, turning to swing at the other trooper’s that had finally started their assault. 

Your staff slammed into four of them before a blaster shot hit your stomach, forcing you back against a wall. 

As you regained your breath, you dropped as a trooper swung at you, his blaster just missing your head. Sweeping out your leg, you knocked him on his back, before reaching for your own blaster and shooting him down. 

Another blaster shot sliced past your arm, the red hot burning sending a shock through your body. Chucking the blaster aside, you gripped your staff tighter before letting out a scream and storming toward the trooper. You jumped at him, landing on his front. You twisted around his body, pulling your staff tight against his throat, under his helmet. As he struggled, you pulled another blaster from your holster, shooting another trooper in the chest. 

The man you were wrapped around finally wheezed and dropped to the ground, you falling unceremoniously with him. 

Pushing yourself to your feet, you turned giving a feral grin to the others that formed a semi-circle around you. Raising your arms out, you silently told them to come and get you.

And one by one they shot forward, trying to hit you, shoot you. But you took down trooper after trooper, your arms screaming as they pressed against your staff, your blaster shooting left and right. 

When all of them laid at your feet, you froze. 

Blood was flowing from multiple blaster shots on your body, your nose had been bashed in and it was becoming hard to breathe. But you welcomed the pain.

When a crunch sounded behind you, you turned shooting instinctively, the blaster shot deflecting off the armor of the Mandalorian.

You froze. Your blaster still aimed at him.

Your ears were buzzing. The man stopped in front of you. You knew words were flowing from his mouth, but you couldn’t hear a thing.

Cara stepped forward, her eyes were wide as she took in the massacre around you, “Did you do all of this?”

“Yes.” The Mandalorian’s voice was gruff. 

He slowly reached out toward you. And when you didn’t move, he took a step closer.

He pulled you toward him and you stumbled clumsily into him. He gently pulled the blaster from your hand and when your arm raised up his breath caught in his throat when he saw the torn piece of child’s red cape tied around your wrist.

With a hand on your back, the man led you out of the imperial hideout. You were quiet, your eyes unfocused like you weren’t all there.

When the Mandalorian got you back to the ship left you alone on the bed. A few minutes later Cara walked through the door with a first aid kit. When your Mandalorian still didn’t make an appearance a few hours later you knew something was wrong.

You wanted to apologize but you couldn’t. Because you weren’t sorry.

You could feel yourself pulling away. From him. From everything. You were detached. All you could think about was things you could’ve done differently.

──────────────────────

“You need to sleep.”

His deep voice echoed through the room, startling you.

The first words he had spoken to you in days. You ignored him.

You continued to pore over the documents in front of you. You had completely taken over the ship’s bedroom. He hadn’t slept here since he brought you back. So why not make good use of it. Papers were thrown everywhere, your notes pinned all over the walls. Clues on where they would take the child. 

“Sleep.” He called a little louder.

You hummed in response, as you stood to pin another paper onto the wall.

“We’re gonna need help.” You mumbled absentmindedly.

“We have Cara.”

“I think we should contact Commander Trax.” You said. 

The Mandalorian cleared his throat, “I thought we couldn’t trust her.”

“We can.”

“If you’re sure.”

Brushing past the warrior, you called out for Cara, following her answering call from outside the ship. As you walked down the ramp, you met her asking her to remain behind on the planet for the time being while you and the Mandalorian went to recruit your old Commander. 

She nodded, and with just a gaze asked you if you would be okay being alone with him for a few days. 

You threw the man, who was lurking a few feet away, a tired glance. You nodded at the woman. 

But when the Mandalorian stepped forward, telling you that he was the one who was going to be staying behind, you froze.

You turned on your heel and walked up the ramp to his ship, without saying a word to him.

Cara followed after you, finding you in the cockpit.

“Ready?” She asked, cautiously.

You nodded, and took control of the ship, plugging in the coordinates.

Your mind was focused on the trip in front of you, but at the very last second, you looked out the window, seeing the Mandalorian on the ground and watched as he vanished from view. 

A few hours later, you landed on the outskirts of your old base. You told Cara to remain behind, even though you expected her to follow behind you.

Without any hesitation, you walked right through the town and right onto base.

With your signature red cape sweeping behind you, the agents froze when they saw you, moving out of your way as you stalked through the base to the main control center.

You may have been excommunicated but nobody would try to stop you. They knew better.

When you reached Commander Center, you kicked in the door, yelling at the rookie at the door to scram.

Commander Trax looked up from her meeting and leveled you with a glare.

“I thought I told you never to return.”

You shrugged with an easy smile.

The Commander rose to her feet, her hand dismissing the other agents. They were hesitant to leave, but when she barked at them, they scattered. 

You and the Commander leveled each other with glares. She stepped forward and held out her hand. You stepped up and took it. She pulled you, twisting you around, trying to force you to the ground. You pushed yourself against her propelling yourself backward to slam the both of you to the ground.

Agents stormed in but Cara dropped from the rafter, making quick work of them. 

Commander Trax looked at her with a raised eyebrow before turning back to you. 

You stood and offered your hand to her.

She brushed it off and pushed herself to her feet. Before reaching out and pulling you into a hug.

“I need your help.”

Commander Trax nodded and motioned for you to have a seat. She gazed at Cara, offering her a seat as well but the woman decided to stand with her back against the wall, her hand on her blaster. 

It took no time at all to convince the Commander to help you. Just one second after you finished speaking, she called for a strike team and told you they were at your disposal for the time being. When you stood to leave and thank her, she refused to take your hand.

“You really think I’m going to miss all the fun?”

You smiled. 

Moving to greet the strike team full of your old friends, you glanced back finding that Cara and the Commander were now locked in a deep staring contest.

──────────────────────

It was only a few days later when you finally returned to your Mandalorian.

The Commander peered out the window, as the man walked out into the open.

“So, that’s the one.”

You scoffed.

The Commander rolled her eyes, “Don’t give me that. You gave up your whole life to go on the run with that man.”

“If that’s what you want to call it.” You mumbled.

“They’re basically married.” Cara teased as she walked by the two of you.

You glared at the woman, “Cara!”

“Though they’re fighting now.” She mocked whispered to the Commander.

You sighed, rubbing a hand over your head.

The Mandalorian greeted your team and Commander before vanishing into the ship. You went to follow him but hesitated. Commander Trax stepped up and brushed past you following the Mandalorian inside.

Once you filled the strike team in on what was going on, they immediately vanished into the night to stake their claim at their new territory.

You peered around the ship, the Mandalorian, your Commander, and Cara having been absent for hours. Sighing, you slipped into the empty bedroom and settled down to get some sleep. 

You only managed to get a few hours before Commander Trax broke down your door to tell you that the Mandalorian been injured during a scouting mission.

Without a moment of hesitation, you had bulldozed yourself past the Commander and into the makeshift med bay to get to the Mandalorian.

You flew through the door gasping out his name, skidding to a stop in surprise when you saw a completely healthy-looking man sitting against the wall.

“What-’

You flushed, “I-…“

Cara cleared her throat, “I think I’ll give you two some space.”

She quickly slid out of the room, but not without first winking at you.

Once she shut the door, your head dropped.

“What’s going on? Are you alright?” The Mandalorian said, his gaze roving your body as if expecting you to be hurt or bleeding.

“Do you even care?” You snapped regretfully.

The man reached up, removing his helmet, so you could see his face.

You turned, refusing to meet his eyes.

“How could you even ask me that?” 

“You’ve been avoiding me.” You muttered.

“You’re the one that decided to start doing things without me. You weren’t the only one that lost him. I did too.”

You winced shrinking back.

The Mandalorian sighed, “Talk to me.” 

You choked back a breath, “I’ve lost every single person I’ve ever cared about. And now I lost the kid. I can’t-“

You stopped.

The Mandalorian stayed silent.

“I thought if I pretended I could do it on my own I could convince myself I didn’t need you, so when I lose you too it won’t hurt as much.”

The Mandalorian stood, pulling off his gloves. Reaching out, he cupped your face, raising your eyes to meet his gaze.

“You’re not going to lose me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Death would have to fight me to keep me from you.”

──────────────────────

The Mandalorian passed you one of his blasters as you started forward, jumping over the rubble of the mansion that had once stood here. Your finger immediately moved to the trigger, ready to take down anybody that got in your way.

Shooting down stray trooper’s, you easily reached the den. You slipped inside, waving back at Commander Trax, Cara, and the strike team, silently telling them to remain behind. The Mandalorian followed close behind you, both your blasters raising. 

What had once been the beautiful ballroom was a mess of rubble and bodies. 

Yet there stood the one person she had been waiting for. 

Mera.

She nodded when she saw you.

“I was wondering when you would come.”

Your eyes narrowed, “Where’s Moff? Too scared to face me?”

“Please, you rate below slugs to him. He sent me to take care of you.” She sighed almost bored.

You took a step forward, raising your blaster at her head.

She smiled, Stormtroopers appeared around her, their blaster’s raised toward you.

Part of your team dropped from their perches, their own weapons aimed at the troopers.

You gritted your teeth, “I gutted a dozen of you just a few days ago. We’ll see how this team stacks up.”

You took another step forward. And that’s when you saw her. The young girl that worked for Mera. She was pressed back against the wall, her eyes wide with terror.

You motioned behind you for your team to lower their weapons.

Explosions echoed outside and you could see the concern on Mera’s face as it grew closer.

“You’ve lost. My team is destroying the rest of your hideout. Give in now and tell me where the child is.”

You took another step forward and Mera’s hand shot out. 

You stopped. The breath from your throat was cut off instantly and you dropped your blaster, as your hands tore at the invisible force around your throat.

The Mandalorian stormed up, his blaster raised toward the woman.

“Stop.” He barked.

Mera grinned sinisterly. The force tightened painfully around your neck before she let go with a chuckle.

“You never did seem to like when I tortured others.” Her hand raised and the Mandalorian’s body flew toward her, placing him on his knees in front of her. Her hand reached down stroking the metal of his helmet.

“Let’s see how you do with the one you love.”

Her fist tightened and the warrior before you collapsed to the ground. You could hear him struggling to breathe and you shot forward but stopped abruptly a force holding you back.

As you fought against the invisible force, she stepped up closer to you and you could feel the familiar pressure begin to build in your head.

“It was always entertaining trying to read your thoughts. Though most of them were about this pathetic warrior here. What happens when I try to drag them out?”

You collapsed to the ground, the pain in your head growing tenfold. You reached out toward the struggling Mandalorian who was too far from you, wishing you could reach him. 

There was nothing you could do. You tried to fight back. You pushed yourself, trying to raise to your feet. But then the young servant girl stepped forward, startling her master.

“Get back you little shit.”

The girl shook her head and stepped in front of you, between you and Mera.

“You have been a pain in my ass since I bought you. Guess I’ll need someone new now.”

She released her hold on the Mandalorian, her hand instead raising toward the young girl. But it froze midair. 

“What?” She whispered in horror.

Her arm raised against her own will and she glanced from it to the girl in front of her.

“Impossible. Troopers!” She screamed.

The troopers marched forward, their blasters raised at the young girl in front of them. You watched in horror as they aimed at her. 

But then the young girl opened her mouth and screamed. Her hands flew out in front of her, a burst of energy shooting out hitting the Stormtroopers and Mera. Their bodies flew back soaring through the air, slamming into the wall behind them and collapsing onto the stone ground. 

The pain in your head instantly vanished and you frantically crawled over to the girl who was now sprawled on the ground breathing unsteadily. 

She weakly lifted her arms, signing something.

A deep voice echoed from behind her, “She wants to know if she’s dead.”

You looked up meeting the Mandalorian’s mask. Pushing yourself to your feet, you stumbled over to the woman who was lying on the ground. Reaching down, you felt for her pulse. 

You turned toward the girl, “She’s dead.”

Her brows furrowed and you just nodded as realization dawned on her face.

“She can’t hurt you anymore. We need to go.”

──────────────────────

When you received a message from the Governor, you knew the real fight was about to begin. You passed the comlink to the Mandalorian as you pulled weapons from the wall.

“You’re not going to meet him.”

“Yes, I am. This has to end. He’s killed half our team. I’ve killed half of his troopers. This can’t continue.”

He grunted, “He wants the girl.”

“And he’s not going to get her.”

“I’m coming with you.”

He followed closely behind you watching as your red cape shone like blood under the light of the moon.

“Where are we?” He asked.

“A hotel on the outskirts of the city. He won’t be here for another few hours. We have time to come up with a plan.”

You wander aimlessly around the room, refusing to look at him.

“So, what happens now? He wants to trade the child for the girl. We aren’t-”

“Of course not.” You scoffed, cutting him off. “I lived with him for over a month. I dealt with him every day. Listened as he spread lies and hatred and poison. Watched as he had children beaten, tortured, and killed. I know how he works.”

“That’s what this is about.” The man realized. 

“What?”

“You see yourself in her.”

Your head snapped toward him, “What?”

“You were taken at a young age. You told me. You were sold and owned like a slave.”

“No. I was a slave.” You finally looked up, “I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

His eyes flashed, “You’re the same person you’ve always been.”

You laughed derisively, “No, I’m not. I saw horrible things when I was with the Governor. And I did nothing. I’m no better than them.”

“You’re nothing like them.”

“You’re lying.” Your voice wavered.

With a smile, he leaned down pressing a light kiss to your lips. He rested his forehead against yours, “You decided not to turn in the Mandalorian you hunted down. You protected an innocent child you didn’t know. You gave the only home you ever had to a family in need. You’re nothing like them. Do you see the difference?”

You nodded. 

The two of you sat in silence for the next hour. And then it was time. The Mandalorian pressed one more kiss to your lips before he moved to his position on the roof. The door creaked open just an hour later.

And in walked the Imperial doctor from all those months ago. The man who had told you to protect the child. The man who had stood by while the Client beat you senseless for days.

“What are you-” You took a step back, your body hitting something hard behind you. An arm wrapped around you and you felt a prick in your neck. And everything went black.

──────────────────────

When you woke you were lying in a bright white room.

Standing you brushed your hands over the white Imperial clothes that clothed your body. Swallowing hard, you walked barefoot across the floor toward the door. Reaching down for the handle, you hesitated before pushing it, sighing in relief when it gave way under your hand.

Peering down the hall, you slipped out of your room and began the trek down the long white hallway. There were no doors. No people. No exit. You followed the hall for what felt like hours before a door finally came into sight.

When you opened it, there stood the Imperial doctor, the child in his arms.

“Welcome to our cloning farm.”


	7. Chapter 7

Your heart was pounding as you took a couple steps forward.

The Imperial doctor twitched as you grew closer and when it looked like he was about to run, you immediately halted. Your gaze dropped from the man to the little child in his arms. His small green hands reached out toward you as he babbled loudly.

Your gaze rose once more to the man before you as your hand drifted down slowly to the blaster at your side. However, when your hand instead hit the soft material of the imperial clothing you were wearing, your hand balled into a fist and you took an aggressive step forward.

“Give him to me.” You said through gritted teeth.

With a gentle smile, the Imperial doctor placed the green child on the ground. His small legs began to toddle toward you as his chitters grew louder. When he was finally out of reach of the doctor, you swept forward picking him up, bundling him in your arms. You slightly turned, placing the child out of sight from the doctor as you looked him over.

“He isn’t injured. We wouldn’t do that. I protected him.” The doctor stuttered softly, as he motioned to the child.

You narrowed your eyes at the man, as you held the child closer to your body, his hands grabbing onto the fabric of your shirt.

“Who are you?”

“Doctor Pershing. Now, if you would please follow me,” He motioned toward the door and turned before you could say a word. You hesitantly followed him out into the hall. As the door behind you slammed shut, the green child made a startled noise and you smiled down at him reassuringly. His eyes widened and he cooed as he took in your smile. Swallowing hard, you pulled your gaze from him paying closer attention to your surroundings.

Dozens of doors lined the walls. You peered closer and that’s when you saw them. The young faces of different species pressed against the windows, their eyes wide as they reached out for you.

Your eyes hardened as they banged at the glass, the doctor in front of you ignoring the ruckus as he led you through the base, babbling on about their work at the cloning farm. 

The doctor stopped abruptly at a black door, two guards on either side. He motioned for you to continue through it and you held the child closer to you as you stepped through the door, past the guards, the man following behind you.

“We have no need for droids here. The clones have a sort of programmed loyalty and work as if they are well-oiled machines. I originally worked for the Empire, then defected to the Republic. However, I was kidnapped and brought back to work for the man you killed.” He turned towards you.

“They’re people.” You ground out.

“Hm?” He seemed confused, “Oh, the clones. They’re dispensable.” He said a matter of fact.

“But they’re still people.”

The man hummed as he turned facing you fully, his hands fidgeting, “We need your help.”

You froze, waiting for him to continue, “The Republic and the fallen Empire want us eradicated. I want you to help prevent it. We need protection. Moff Gideon only wants us for his own reasons. We are doing good work here and without him, in our way, we can continue.”

Your eyes narrowed, “You’re cloning people and have children in cages. How is that good work?”

You had heard of places like this. Used by both the Empire and the Republic. But you had never actually seen one. Not many people had. They hired the best and brightest scientists. Served the greater good. But this place was different. It was running as its own entity with no supervision.

“We will continue our work. You will either help or you will no longer be needed.” The man walked close to you and you took a few stumbling steps back as his darkened eyes bore into you and the child in your arms.

You knew you would have to play along if you were going to escape alive. You didn’t know if anyone was coming to save you. If anyone else had been captured. Or injured. 

“Fine.” You spit.

“Good.” He smiled the darkness that had surrounded him seemingly gone in a second.

You swallowed, “So, what happens now?”

“We get you cleaned up and you can join the rest of our population in the mess hall.” He said waving his arm. 

The door opened behind him, a young woman stepping into the room. 

He held out his hand for the child and you frantically looked for any means of escape.

“There is nowhere for you to run. He will be fine in my care.”

Your heart was in your throat as you reluctantly handed the child over to him, a soft cry escaping his mouth. 

The woman who had entered the room stepped up to you, grasping your arm. You pulled back startled, but she just reached out again and began leading you away. 

“You will follow her to be cleaned.”

“Alright.” Your voice wavered.

Your heart was pounding as the strange woman lead you out of the room. Before you turned the corner, you looked behind you one last time finding both the doctor and the child, their eyes fixed solely on you. 

The second you were out of his sight, you turned to the woman, “Please you need to help me get out of here.”

The woman turned to you with a smile, “Why would you ever want to leave? It is safe here.” Her smile was wide, her eyes sparkling and you knew she was a clone. She was younger than you, barely an adult.

You swallowed heavily as you stepped back into the room you had woken up in, “So what do we do now?”

“First you need a shower.” She stated. She walked over to the wall and typed a code into the pad. A loud hiss sounded and the wall gave way to an opening. 

Stepping inside you found yourself in a small bathing area. Stepping out of the imperial clothes you slide into the shower, the water flowing automatically. 

The feeling of hot water running over your skin was something you had almost forgotten. And as you stood there in the shower you felt the tears welling up as all the pain and suffering you had endured finally hit you. And as you cried for the first time in months, you let out all the pain you had kept inside.

When you stepped out of the shower, you brushed your hand over your face, your eyes swollen from crying. The woman was standing outside the door, a pile of fresh clothes in her hand. You took them from her hesitantly and placed your back to her.

As you changed, you heard soft footsteps step up behind you and a soft hand touched your back. You spun around backing away quickly.

“We will remove those scars and blemishes from your body.”

You knew the map of scars and wounds that painted your body was startling. 

“No.” You said. They were a part of you and you wouldn’t have that erased.

You stiffened slightly as the woman stepped closer and touched a particularly bad scar on your hand.

“I am sorry.” 

Your brows furrow as you watched her hand follow the scar, “It’s not your fault.”

Her eyes rose to you and you could see the conflict in them as she looked between your scarred hands and her own smooth ones.

You knew then that you wouldn’t leave this place without first saving all those who hadn’t had a say in their lives. They were innocent in all this.

──────────────────────

Once you were clean, the woman left and soon Dr. Pershing entered the room, smiling widely.

“Perfect! Time to introduce you to the rest. Come, come, come.”

When you entered the mess hall, you froze.

The chattering of kids. Laughter. Adults walking around interacting with the children, corralling them to their tables, serving them food. Some of them were even on the ground playing games with small marbles.

Your mouth dropped open in wonder as you took a step forward, not paying attention as a small figure rushed toward you, their body slamming into you. 

“What?” You looked down, trying to push the body back when another hand came down on your shoulder and you turned seeing Commander Trax.

You opened your mouth to ask her what was happening, but she motioned for you to be quiet and follow her instead.

The young girl stayed close to your side and you tightly held onto her looking around for an easy escape, but all you saw were armed guards on each of the doors.

You all settled at a table and you leaned over the girl to whisper to Commander Trax. 

“How did they get you?”

Trax smiled widely as she looked over your shoulder and you swung around.

“Food?”

An older man held out a tray and you hesitated. Commander Trax reached over you grabbing three bowls and placed them down in front of the three of you.

The young girl sat between you began eating, shoving the food into her mouth.

“We need to be careful. These people are crazy.” Commander Trax said around a mouthful of food.

“We need to get out of here. Have you seen any exits?” You whispered around your spoon. But didn’t eat any of the food. Instead, you just dropped the full spoon back into the bowl. You didn't trust it.

“No, but I’m assuming they’re behind the doors that have guards on them. I’ve counted at least 30 armed guards so far.”

You moved closer toward her your voice rising, “Have you seen anyone else so far? Cara, the others? Man-“

She cut you off, “No. Nobody. But that doesn’t mean they’re not here. We’ve been in the public for four days. You’ve been unconscious for that long, they told me.”

You flinched. Unconscious for days in the hands of these people. You didn’t what to know what they could’ve done to you. You pulled up your sleeve, finding the small hole in your arm where they had the IV. 

Swallowing hard, you stood, “Stay close. I’ll let you know what I find.”

You spent the rest of your free time exploring. Dr. Pershing had said you had free reign of the base. But that wasn’t exactly true. As you pushed against a stuck door, you shrieked as it finally gave way and you stumbled inside.

A guard mysteriously appeared at your side.

“You are prohibited from this area.”

“But Dr. Pershing said--”

“Please step back.” His hand was on his blaster and you stepped back, but not before bumping into him and swiping the key card from his belt.

“Sorry! No problem, I’m leaving.”

You turned, smirking as you rounded the corner, shoving the keycard into the side of your pants and away from sight.

That night you were told that you would be locked in your room. You stood facing the door as the guard locked it and waited until you could no longer hear his footsteps echoing in the hallway. For your own sanity, you waited another half hour before you stepped up using the keycard. You sighed in relief when the keypad on your wall lit green.

You wondered around the base, pulling at doors, peering through windows. You tried to find a way out. Or even a way in. There didn’t seem to be even one door that led to anywhere outside of the hallway you were in.

A loud crash startled you and you sunk back into the shadows watching as the shadow of a figure dropped from the ceiling. Slowly and silently, you snuck up behind them, and just when you went to take them down, they dropped to the ground sweeping your legs out from beneath you and pinning you down.

“What did I tell you about sneaking up on people? You need to be silent.”

“Cara!” You whispered loudly. The woman helped you up and pulled you into a quick hug, before pulling you back into a side hallway as boots began to echo through the halls.

“How did you get in here?” You asked as she turned back, pointing at the vent she just climbed through. “Is he with you?”

“No time. We need to come up with a plan to get you out of here.”

Your heart sunk when she refused to answer your question. Did this mean that he was here somewhere? Was he not with her?

“You can leave with me now and we’ll come back for the others.”

You shook your head, “The child. He’s here I can’t leave.”

“Shit.” She ran her hand through her hair before pulling a pad out of her bag, “Here, I swiped the plans to the building. Be ready we’re coming in tonight.”

──────────────────────

Cara told you they were going to strike at night. 

You hadn’t seen the little green child since they had taken him away and you knew you couldn’t leave without him. But in the meantime, you managed to move Commander Trax and the young girl, Greit, into your room that night.

You all sat silently well into the night waiting. Just waiting. You just weren’t sure for what.

And then the siren sounded.

It was almost time to move. You used the keycard to open your door and pushed Trax and Greit behind you, watching and waiting for any unknown surprises. 

Little did you know that while you were waiting someone else was fighting to get to you. 

And it took him ten minutes to get to you.

The night you had been taken he had been tranqed and woke on the roof hours after they had taken you. He had flagged down Cara, who had been knocked out while protecting the young girl with Commander Trax. Together, they had found you rather quickly thanks to the tracker he had slipped onto you. But because of the security of the base, they couldn’t get to you.

It had taken a few days to arrive and plan their extraction. And while Cara had slipped through one of the vents, he had paced back and forth waiting for news on you. 

But his patience had grown too thin and he snuck through the vent himself, finding a spot in the med bay to hide. 

That night when the alarm sounded, he had slipped out of his hiding spot and slammed the only nurse in the bay against the wall. 

“The people that you took four days ago. Where are they?” He growled.

“Please, I don’t know.”

Moving around her, he reached for the door and pulled at the handle. Locked.

Behind him, the nurse pulled out a nightstick and started forward. The Mandalorian turned, knocking her back against the wall before grabbing an IV stand. He turned swinging it around before throwing it through the med bay window.

Without any hesitation, he climbed through the shattered window before racing off down the hall, guards moving quickly after him, their blaster’s raised. 

His boots thudded loudly down the halls, trying door after door. He opened a few, the people inside screaming at the intrusion. He mumbled apologies before slamming the doors shut and moving on.

He was about to give up and just take off down the hall when the last door he tried opened under his hand and he fell inside a room. 

Slamming the door quickly, he turned to peer out the window, watching as the guards ran by.

He heard something heavy drop to the ground and when he turned he caught sight of a person standing there, a lamp shattered on the ground in front of them. 

You.

His body instantly relaxed as his gaze roamed over your body. You were fine.

──────────────────────

The door slammed open startling the two of you and the Mandalorian placed himself in front of you. One of Trax’s strike team member’s entered the room, waving for you to follow. Pushing forward you reached out behind you toward Commander Trax.

You all poured into the hallway which was rapidly filling with smoke. The man motioned for you to follow, “Come on! Cara and the rest of us breached the door. But something else is happening. I think Moff Gideon is here.”

The Mandalorian grabbed your hand and you all started running down the hall following the man. But when you reached the end of the hall, you stopped short, the faces of those young children burned into your mind. 

“We need to get them out of here.” You mumbled softly.

“We don’t have time.’ Commander Trax said.

An explosion shook the building as the wall in front of you blew out. Cara stepped forward over the rubble, a blaster in her hands, a grimace on her face.

You pushed Greit and the Commander toward Cara, “Go. I’m staying behind.”

Cara stepped forward letting the strike team help the Commander and young girl step over the rubble.

“Moff Gideon is here. We need to leave.” Cara argued. 

You shook your head, “I’m staying. I need to find the child and get these kids out. I can't leave them here.”

The woman nodded understanding, and you both turned to the Mandalorian, who had been characteristically quiet.

“You’re staying.”

His voice was gruff, “Do you even have to ask?”

You smiled at the man before turning back to Cara once more, reaching to grasp her arm, “Keep them safe.”

“We’ll be waiting for you. Save them. We’ll fend him off as long as possible.”

You and the Mandalorian took off down the opposite hallway. He followed after you as you turned down the hallways you remember seeing on the plans Cara had given you. 

You turned once more before following the stairs up to the control center. When you reached the top floor, you stepped into the room cautiously. The ceiling had been blown open, loose wires and beams hanging down. 

You slid over to the control center and began to search for the commands to release the doors of the children. Just when you found the controls to the rooms, a shot soared through the ceiling and landed at your feet. 

You and the Mandalorian dove for cover as the shots continued. The shots exploded around you and the equipment blew into a million pieces.

You peered out of your hiding space watching as a black TIE fighter flew over the building.

“Lay down some cover, I need to get back there.” You panted.

The Mandalorian pulled out his blaster and began drawing fire from the TIE fighter.

You crawled quickly over to the control center again. But just as your hand reached for the screen, the door blew open, a crazy-eyed Dr. Pershing standing there holding the child. Both your blaster and the Mandalorian’s aimed at him.

“You brought him here.” Dr. Pershing said, his voice terrified as he watched the TIE fighter fly over once more.

You stepped up to him, “Let him go and we’ll help you save the clones.” The only way to get out of here was to lie.

“No, my whole life’s work for nothing. Because of you.” He raised his hand, a blaster aimed at your head.

The TIE fighter above you shot right between you and the doctor and the floor creaked, splitting. You dropped your blaster as you tried to steady yourself. 

You watched as the floor split between your feet and with a gasp you jumped forward, looking back as you saw the ground you had been standing on vanish. The Mandalorian stood on the other side with no way to get to you.

Your arms shook as you pushed yourself to your feet, “Give him to me.”

The man looked terrified and you looked down. The floor under him was splintering as well. And before either of you could move, it gave out. You dove, grasping onto his hand, your body sliding and falling as you tried to keep him from falling into the unknown darkness beneath you.

But he was too heavy. You slid off the side, managing at the last second to grab onto the edge. The doctor was gripping tight to your legs and your left hand was holding tight to his shirt, as your right strained to hold you up. 

You could hear the little child’s scared noises and you gripped the doctor tighter as you tried to prevent them both from slipping. 

Your hand was throbbing as it held onto the floor above you. With a shout, you tried to pull yourself up. But it was no use. Your hand was just about to give out when familiar gloved hands came into view, reaching for you.

“No, grab him first.” You grit out. 

The hand hesitated but reached past you, pulling the child from the doctor’s arms. Once safe at his side, he reached back for your hand. As he leaned over to reach you, the floor beneath you groaned and began to crack even more. 

The doctor began to claw his way up your body, desperate to save himself, but it was too much of a strain on your hand.

You couldn’t hold on much longer.

Another shot came from the TIE fighter and your eyes went wide. The floor beneath your hand collapsed and if the Mandalorian hadn’t reached down grabbing your hand, you would’ve fallen into the abbess beneath you.

“Please don’t let me fall.” You whispered. 

“Never.”

You held on tight to the Mandalorian’s hand but you could feel yourself slipping. He grunted above you and you looked at him as he tried to pull both you and the doctor up. 

You knew this wasn’t going to turn out how you hoped.

The shots from the TIE fighter were getting closer as the ceiling began to collapse more giving him a better view of you.

The weight from the doctor was pulling you down and no matter how much you tried, he wouldn’t fall from you. You knew that the Mandalorian wouldn’t be able to pull you both up.

“You need to let me go.” You said, your eyes slamming shut.

His voice cracked, “No.”

“Go, get the child out of here.” You argued.

“I’m not leaving you here,” He snapped.

“I’m not giving you a choice. Let me go.” 

He shook his head and grunted trying to pull you up once more. But it was no use.

You opened your hand, releasing your grip from him. And you began to slip.

“No!”

But it was too late. Your hand slipped through his and the last thing you saw was his outstretched hand before everything went black.

──────────────────────

All you could feel was pain.

Your eyes fluttered opened and all you saw was dust and darkness. You pushed yourself to your feet, your eyes adjusting to the dark around you. A dim light shone in the distance and with a pained grunt, you began the journey.

It took longer than you would have liked. But just as you reached the light, you tripped over a log and fell to your knees. Turning over, you laid on your back the bright light of day and fresh air washing over you. 

The throbbing in your head did nothing to silence the strange noise that flew through the air. When you opened your eyes, a glowing black sword swung down at your head and at the last second, you rolled quickly listening as it burned through the grass where you had been lying. 

Moff Gideon stood in front of you, blood pouring from his nose, his eyes were wide and crazed.

He swung out at you again and you stumbled to your feet jumping back dodging his attacks. Reaching down, you grabbed a lone stick off the ground, holding it out to defend yourself. But when his saber sliced right through it you looked down wide-eyed, throwing it to the side before you turned on your heel and ran.

Moff Gideon thrashed through the forest after you, slicing through the trees as he made his way after you. You had no idea where you were going and if there was an end. You ducked under trees, weaved around rocks. He was gaining on you. You jumped over a log and then skidded to a halt suddenly, almost having vaulted yourself off a cliff.

You had nowhere left to run. You turned around. 

Moff Gideon’s saber sliced through a tree and stepped out in front of you. The saber aimed at you.

“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”

You spit at him and he growled. He shot forward his hand coming up wrapping tight around your throat as the glowing saber neared your face.

“Do what you want with me, I don’t care. The child is safe. Your troopers are dead. You’ve lost.”

“The Empire will always rise again.” He spat. “And it will do so without you around to stop me.”

He threw you back and you landed on the ground.

He raised the sword and you closed your eyes as it began to come down at you. But when nothing hit you, your eyes opened and you found the man frozen, seemingly fighting with himself. And then he screamed. His body raised into the air and he flew back pushed off the cliff by an unknown force. 

You crawled over to the end trying to catch sight of his body when a twig snapped behind you.

The unknown person moved through the trees. And when you caught sight of his helmet, your heart skipped a beat.

It couldn’t be.

“Din?” You whimpered tears in your eyes.

The man before you froze at the sound of your voice. You took a step forward but he still refused to turn around. You stepped up to him and placed a hand on his arm.

“No. You died.”

“It’s me.”

For a second, the man began to turn but faltered and shook his head, “No.”

The little green child walked out from where he had been hiding in the bushes and chittered happily at you.

You smiled, “Death would have to fight me to keep me from you.”

The Mandalorian’s shoulders dropped and he turned, the sudden movement startling you and you flinched back, You raised your gaze, finally meeting his gaze beneath the helmet.

You shot forward and wrapped yourself around him, his arms hesitating only a second before they wrapped around your back, fingers digging into your wounds from the fall you had endured, the pain reminding you of all you had been through.

──────────────────────

You stood in the forest watching as flames licked from the building, the smoke rising high into the air. Soot was raining down on you and your surroundings.

The Mandalorian had helped you as you limped back to the clone base. It was gone. Just a memory now. Under Moff Gideon and his trooper's terror, they had destroyed it all.

A small hand encompassed yours and you looked down at the young girl next to you.

“You’re safe now.”

The girl nodded. She released your hand and made a few gestures. You nodded. You had been learning sign language from the Mandalorian.

But when she repeated a phrase over and over again your brow furrowed.

“I don’t understand.”

A throat cleared behind you and Commander Trax stepped forward, motioning for the child. Her young face lit up as she ran toward the older woman.

“I’m going to take Greit with me. If that’s okay.”

You smiled as the young girl looked up in awe at the older woman.

“Take care of her.”

She nodded, wrapping her arm around the young girl, leading her away. But her footsteps faltered and she turned.

“What about the other clones?”

Cara strolled over, passing the little green child to you, who chittered happily at you, “We have somewhere to take them. They’ll be safe don’t worry.”

“Thank you for everything.” You called out to the Commander.

But she just smiled, “No, thank you.”

Cara motioned pointing over to the Mandalorian, who was standing staring at the burning building.

“Go, I’ll handle everything here you need to talk.”

You walked over and the Mandalorian grabbed your hand, “Is there anywhere we can go?”

You nodded. You walked hand in hand back to the ship that Cara had flown here.

The door shut behind you and you turned facing the man. 

You both moved at the same time. He took his helmet off dropping it to the ground, the beskar clacking loudly on the metal floors while you stepped forward wrapping your arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss.

The kiss was short and rough. The man pulled away.

“Hello.”

You smiled sheepishly, “Hi.”

“I never thought I would see you again,” he murmured, brushing his lips over yours, “I thought you had died without knowing how much I love you.”

The Mandalorian pulled back and stared at you, a smile grazing his face as he saw the startled look on your face. 

You were having a hard time forming a sentence and were only able to blurt out, “Okay.”

The man let out an amused huff.

You cringed, “I-”

But he didn’t let you finish. His mouth came down hard on yours. And you sunk into him. A tingling sensation burning over your body as his bare hands explored you.

When his tongue dipped into your mouth, you found yourself arching up against him, trying to pull him closer. Reaching down, he grabbed your legs pulling you up and you wrapped yourself around him. Your fingers tangled in his hair as you deepened the kiss.

The Mandalorian tilted his head, sucking your bottom lip into his mouth, tugging lightly on it with his teeth before pulling back with a gasp.

You both stared at each other for a moment, both breathing heavily.

“I love you too.” You felt dazed.

His lips traveled down your neck now and you curved up under his kisses as he nipped over your pulse point. You shivered as his hands slid under your shirt and you pulled him back to your lips kissing him deeply as he pulled the shirt over your head.

──────────────────────

It was a week later.

It had taken you and the Mandalorian a few days to search through all the rubble of the demolished cloning facility.

In the end, the salvage left you with a variety of resources and twelve young children in your care.

You had even managed to salvage the chain code from the little green child and destroy it. Nobody else would gain access to this code. Nobody would be hiring hunters to find him. Now that Moff was gone and the Client and Dr. Pershing were dead...you were all free. 

Cara had contacted someone she knew from years prior and before you knew it, you were on your way to a moon called Yavin 4. There you met with a Lieutenant and a Sergeant and their young son.

As the cloned children were introduced and taken in by the citizens, you knew they would be safe. The care and smiles that were shared between these strangers let you know that you had done the right thing.

You and the Mandalorian had both decided to remain on planet for the time being. To help with the integration of the children. Even Cara had decided to stay and catch up with her old friends. 

It was peaceful on this planet and for once you didn’t have to worry about somebody coming after you. And for the time being, it was a good place to stay. But you knew it wouldn’t be your home forever.

But for now, you would enjoy it. 

Your eyes were closed as you sat in the middle of the forest, the sounds of the wind and brook making you smile. 

You weren’t surprised when you felt a body settle down behind you, pulling you back to relax against him.

With a sigh, you rested back against his soft chest. He smiled as the breeze blew across his face, his hair blowing in the wind, the sun warm on his skin. His arms were wrapped tight around you and you began to doze off to the sound of the little green child babbling as he chased a butterfly.

We’re a family again. And as if the Mandalorian could hear you, his arms tightened around you and he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. He mumbled in your ear and you smiled, his bare hands stroking soothingly over your skin. 

This was the happiest you had been in your whole life. Safe and secure in the arms of the man you loved.

“What do we do now?”

“Live.”


	8. Chapter 8

You awoke half sprawled across the Mandalorian’s snoring body. Squinting your eyes open, you groaned as the light shone through the window directly into them. You turned, burying your face into the crevice of the Mandalorian’s neck, breathing in his scent. The scent you had begun to associate with safety and home. His arms tightened unconsciously around you, as he continued to lightly snore.

For just a moment, you stayed there content to listen to his heartbeat, your hand absentmindedly drawing designs across his chest. Your hand trailed across a particularly bad scar and you frowned. You wished you could remain here forever, just to keep him safe and protected. To give him the life that both of you had probably dreamed of as children. 

Carefully, you pushed yourself up, detangling yourself from his body. His arms reached out for you, and not wanting him to wake, you quickly leaned over brushing a hand over his curly hair. He leaned into your hand and settled back into sleep. He looked so much younger while he slept. The innocence of his youth apparent on his face as he dreamed. With a smile, you leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against his forehead, before turning to get ready for the day.

Yavin 4 was one of the most peaceful and beautiful planets you had ever been on. Ancient buildings. Greenery everywhere. Some of the most gorgeous constellations in the sky each night. And its sunsets were beyond compare.

You had been here officially for three months.

And you felt right at home.

Just a week into your arrival, you and the Mandalorian had decided to stay for another week or so. Even though both of you claimed it was to help the clone children assimilate, it was really because you secretly longed for a place where you truly belonged.

And belong you did.

After living on your ship for that first week, Lieutenant Shara Bey and Sergeant Kes Dameron invited you to stay in their guest room for the time being.

At first, the Mandalorian hadn’t been too keen to accept the offer. But after seeing how happy the little green child was with the Lieutenant and Sergeant’s young son Poe, he agreed.

And so you were greeted with this family’s hospitality. And ultimately with the hospitality of the whole village. 

After your second week there, you had stumbled across a local mechanic and offered him your assistance. He had been more than willing to take you on and you found yourself there on a daily basis, helping with repairs and building new machines.

The Mandalorian was a little less than enthusiastic to put himself in the middle of strangers. But when the Lieutenant invited him to sit in on their Intelligence Council, he found a place for himself. He worked closely as a liaison with Cara, who had left to explore other worlds. She was on a mission to find supporters to help the Republic’s and Resistance’s cause.

You could tell how happy he was. Each night, he caught you up on the meetings. He spoke highly of the council members and you were happy that he was making connections. However, when he mentioned the fact that he was unsure about if he should continue wearing his helmet and armor, you paused.

You knew he was alright with removing it in front of you and the little green child. But he had never mentioned removing it for anyone else. 

When he looked at you with an uncertain and confused expression, you grabbed his hand and told him that whatever he decided he would be embraced either way. 

It was just a week later when he exited your room in the Dameron household. Without his helmet. Everybody froze and he stood there waiting for someone to break the silence. And that someone was Poe. The little boy flew forward asking the warrior a million questions. 

The man stood there in silence, his eyes wide. You stepped up to pull Poe back, but Din just shook his head. Instead, he took the little boy by his hand and into your room. And when they returned just a moment later, Poe had on the Mandalorian’s helmet and was using a stick as a pretend blaster. You watched as the man’s eyes sparkled at the joy in the little boy’s voice.

And from that moment on he was lighter. Happier. Not hiding in his emotions as he had become so used to. He didn’t have to hide anything. It wasn’t that the helmet had been holding him back and he still strongly believed in the Mandalorian code. But he claimed he had created a new clan with you and the little green child. And the times were different. His clan, his family, would be different. 

And you were happy. But ever the realist you knew it wouldn’t last forever. Neither of you were built for a solitary life. And even though no one was currently looking for the child, he would never fully be safe until he was able to properly defend himself. And the longer you stayed in one place, the less safe he would be. 

After slipping out of the room, you stepped out into the kitchen, greeting Shara and Kes, who stood at the stove cleaning up from breakfast. Poe, who had been sitting at the kitchen table, jumped up when he saw you and ran over to hug you good morning.

“Where’s your other half?” Shara asked with a smirk.

You rolled your eyes, “Still asleep. I think you wore him out yesterday.”

Shara had been bugging the Mandalorian for weeks about racing her in their respective ships. He had kindly refused and refused and refused until yesterday... when he had finally given in.

He had wanted to keep it quiet. But when he arrived at his ship the next morning, the whole town was there waiting to see the race.

Bets were placed. And they were off. The race lasted a little over an hour.

And even though he put up a good fight. He lost. 

Kes had whooped loudly, Poe beaming as he sat on his father’s shoulders.

When they landed, you hid your smile behind your hand as you passed the little green child over to the grumpy warrior. You pressed a kiss to his cheek and smiled at the light blush that dusted his face. You had teased him, telling him that he had to practice more if he was going to beat her next time. 

A light coo broke you from your memory and you smiled, kneeling down to pick up the child.

He chirped as he pulled on the red cape you had given him yesterday. You had remade it, using pieces from your own torn cape that hadn’t fully survived your battle with Moff Gideon.

“We’re running into town this morning if you want to come with?” Shara called over to you.

You blinked, “All of you?”

The woman nodded and you smiled throwing a glance back at your room, “No, I’m fine thanks.”

She chuckled and quickly began to usher her husband and child out of the room. The boys protested but she shushed them as she plucked the little child from your arms before stepping out the house herself. 

And then you were alone, 

Rushing back into your room, you jumped onto the bed, facing the Mandalorian who was still fast asleep. 

With a groan, you turned over rolling into the Mandalorian. When he didn’t wake, you poked him over and over and over again.

“Pssst.”

Din let out a slight groan, his eyes opening slowly.

“I’m bored.”

His eyebrow raised as if asking you what you wanted him to do about it.

You smiled and pushed him back, settling onto his lap and leaning down to rest against his chest, your face even with his.

With a wide grin, the man grabbed you and rolled you over so he was on top of you. And as his fingers weaved into your hair, you pulled his face down toward you and smiled as his mouth met yours.

──────────────────────

You smiled as you circled the man in front of you.

He took a hesitant step forward but faltered. Instead, deciding to take two steps back, his eyes widening as your smile grew wider. You held out your arms, dropping your wooden stick to the ground.

He took a step forward and you closed your eyes. Your hand motioned for him to attack.

And he did.

You could hear his steps against the hard ground and just as he was about to reach you, you stepped to the side quickly and opened your eyes watching as he fell flat on his face. With a grunt, the man pushed himself up. He twirled his own wooden stick and struck out toward you. You blocked easily with your hands, stepping back as his attacks became more aggressive.

He growled and jumped at you, but you flung your hand out, slamming into his throat. He collapsed, struggling to catch his breath. You turned your back and smiled toward the crowd.

“Who’s next?”

A shout sounded behind you and you dropped, knocking the man’s legs out beneath him, pulling his weapon from his hands.

Rolling your eyes you reached down poking him in the side, “Don’t shout when you attack.”

He sighed and you leaned down and pulled him up to his feet. His head bowed and he scurried off, stepping beneath the fence to leave the makeshift fighting ring.

Turning back to the crowd, you watched as citizens passed each other coins.

This wasn’t for entertainment, even though some people treated it as such. Many of the citizens wanted to learn how to fight. So you spent your mornings teaching the men and women different exercises and at the end of the week, you allowed them to spar you to test their newfound skills.

Sighing, you rubbed the back of your neck as you made your way toward the fence. You smirked, catching sight of a man leaning over the top bar, his eyes fixed solely on you.

Sauntering over, you leaned next to him and smiled.

“Looking for a man in a helmet, have you seen him?”

The man chuckled, his eyes sparkling, “I have not, but I’ll be on the lookout.”

You nodded solemnly, a smile pulling at the corner of your mouth.

You motioned to the ring, “How about you? Want to try your hand at sparring? I once fought a man that looked like you.” The Mandalorian rolled his eyes but smiled widely as you continued, “But he had an unfair advantage. Armor and a helmet. I think you might be more of a fair fight. What do you say?”

The man hummed, “Not sure. What’s in it for me?”

You pretended to think for a moment, before motioning around you, “Glory. Fame. Fortune?”

The Mandalorian smiled and nodded.

Grinning widely you stepped back as he jumped over the fence taking his place in the middle of the fighting ring.

You followed after him, a certain happy jump in your step.

A woman on the sidelines began shouting for others to gather around as she realized what was about to occur.

You and the Mandalorian stood in front of each other and slowly began circling each other as the crowd around you grew in size.

“Ready?” You smirked.

“Do I have a choice?”

You shrugged. “Not really.”

“Let’s go.” He waved his hand toward you.

And you attacked.

You rushed forward and immediately jumped on his front, spinning so you were latched on his back. But before you could make your move, the Mandalorian bent at the waist and flipped you over, your grip slipping as you slammed into the ground.

You rolled, brushing yourself off before raising your fists in the air. He attacked next, immediately dropping out trying to sweep your legs. But you jumped over to his side and kicked out at him, knocking him off balance.

You both dropped to the ground and you slid over to him, straddling his waist before trying to pin down his arms. But before you could reach them, his legs kicked out and flipped you over behind him. You laid there for a second, laughing.

“Ow.”

The man above you snorted. He stood and reached down with his hand pulling you up.

“Truce?”

“Truce.”

But both of your eyes were sparkling and you both shot forward at the same time to attack each other once more. But before you could reach him, you both froze.

A soft coo sounded from the sidelines and you looked over catching sight of your little green child standing in the fighting ring, his arm outstretched toward you.

The crowd grumbled as you both broke away from each other and you scooped the child up, “What are you doing over here!” You exclaimed.

“I want a rematch.” The Mandalorian said as he passed by you, a hint of a joke in his voice as he joined the other citizens, who were still grumbling about how the child had ruined the fun.

──────────────────────

It was Fete Week.

A holiday you weren’t familiar with. Poe told you that it was a celebration of the first five days of the New Year.

You weren’t really sure about the holiday. About any holiday in fact. You had never really celebrated anything because you never had anyone to share it with.

But for the first time, you felt like a child. You were too excited to sleep. After an hour of forcing yourself to remain silent, you started poking the Mandalorian. He grumbled in annoyance.

“Din.” You whispered.

He groaned, “What?” He opened his eyes, lightly glaring at you.

You smiled coyly and his eyes widened slightly. But before you could make a noise, your door flew open and Poe rushed in, jumping right onto the bed.

Din moaned as his body bounced up and down.

“It’s Fete Week. It’s Fete Week. It’s Fete Week! It’s Fete Week!”

The Mandalorian reached up grabbing Poe’s hand and yanking him down to sit on the bed. He grunted as the boy’s elbow accidentally slammed into his stomach.

“Din, it’s Fete Week!”

“It doesn’t start until tomorrow.” He broke lightly.

The boy sighed collapsing back onto the bed dramatically, “How dare you kill my excitement.”

But then the boy shot up and out of the room before either of you could speak.

Din pushed himself up and leaned over you. He pulled your hand away from your face taking in your wide smile. He laughed and leaned in pressing a light kiss to your mouth.

Once you and the Mandalorian managed to get out of bed, it was late morning.

You strolled through the village swinging your clasped hands back and forth. There weren’t many people up yet. Everybody seemed to be enjoying their morning in.

The festivities wouldn’t start until later that night.

As you and the Mandalorian reached the town center, you could smell the scent of fresh food and when you stepped inside the room was covered in streamers and bright lights.

You spent hours helping the town set up. And hours later, you ended up curled up in a chair watching the snowfall outside. You shivered slightly and Din wrapped his cape around you, pulling you close with a kiss to your head.

And when you and Din flopped into bed later that night, with huge yawns you silently made a pact to sleep in late the following morning.

However, someone had another idea.

Once again, it was six in the morning when a young excited boy came bulldozing through your bedroom door.

“It’s Fete Week!” The boy screamed before taking off to another part of the house and screaming it yet again.

You began to nod off back to sleep but Din shook you gently, pressing a kiss to your cheek. 

“Come on, up and at ‘em.” He said.

You groaned, turning over to burrow deeper into your blankets. With a quick roll of his eyes, the Mandalorian sat on the bed and with a smile you climbed up onto his back relaxing against him. Your head dropped to his shoulder with a yawn as he stood up boosting you up firmly onto his back.

Poe shot past the door again, the little green child in his arms, “Let’s go let’s go let’s go! I want presents!”

Din hoisted you up and followed after the little boy.

You began nodding off against his shoulder and he could hear your breathing deepen.

He chuckled quietly, tightening his grip on your legs so you wouldn’t fall.

When he reached the town center, he shook you slightly, “Wake up, sweetheart. Look at this.”

You opened your eyes and smiled.

The whole center was lit up. Sparkling lights hung from the rafters. Presents littered the room. And the whole town was crammed comfortably together.

You smiled and dropped down from Din’s back slipping under his arm and wrapping yourself around him. He pulled you tight to his side pressing a quick kiss to the top of your head.

──────────────────────

You reached out grabbing Din’s hand and pulling him towards the door.

“We’re going outside? You’re going to be cold.”

You scoffed and pulled him out the door. It was snowing. It had started snowing that morning, the hills and trees covered in glistening white snow.

As you stood there staring at the snow you didn’t notice that the Mandalorian had released your hand until a snowball hit the side of your face. You turned around slowly, snow dripping down your face and into your shirt.

“Oh, it’s on.”

You returned the favor and hit him in the face with a snowball.

With a smirk, he rushed forward and you shrieked taking off toward the Dameron household. The Mandalorian beat you there standing at the door, with a smirk on his face.

You gently pushed past him and pulled yourself up onto the snow-covered roof. You looked around with a wide smile on your face as you took in the hanging lights suspended in the air, the falling snow glittering against the night sky.

You closed your eyes and held out your arms, letting out a soft giggle as the snowflakes fell on your skin. A weight settled around your shoulders startling you out of her thoughts. Din’s cape now rested around you, shielding you from the cold of the night. You wrapped the cape more firmly around you and turned to face the Mandalorian with a smile.

As you looked up at him the wind blew a piece of your hair across your face, but before you could reach out for it, the Mandalorian gently brushed it back, his fingers lingering against your cheek for a second longer than necessary.

Music flooded through the night and you smiled swaying toward the music. The Mandalorian held out of his hand toward you and you took it. He pulled you close and began to sway you both side to side.

You leaned into the Mandalorian, your head tucking against his neck, his arm wrapping tighter around your back. After a few minutes, you sighed slightly.

“We are not dancing, just swaying.” 

“Is this not dancing? How about this?” The Mandalorian pulled back and twirled you around a few times until he snapped you back against him.

“Better.” You smiled.

His hand reached up to cup your cheek, his thumb brushing gently against your lower lip. You leaned in slowly, meeting in the middle.

His lips touched yours gently. A soft sigh tore from your mouth as he deepened the kiss, his arms came up to wrap tightly around you. One hand snaked around your back pulling you even closer to him.

You knew at that moment that your whole life had changed for the better the second you met him. You hadn’t expected to get drawn into this life, into this family. But you wouldn’t change it for the world.

The Mandalorian pulled back pressing a gentle kiss against your forehead, before pulling you close to him once more and they continued to dance, snow falling lightly around them.

──────────────────────

It had been half a year on Yavin 4.

And everything was about to change.

Cara had returned to give news of murmurings of a new Empire beginning to rise. And you knew it wasn’t safe to remain here anymore. You had to leave.

Even though neither of you wanted to.

Your last night on Yavin 4 was small and intimate. Poe was close to tears all night. Even the little green child was aware that something was wrong.

You spent the whole night talking to the new friends and family you had made, promising to stay in touch and visit when possible.

Soon everyone was asleep, except you and Din.

“I’m going to miss them all.” You whispered. You had just gotten used to having a family and now you felt like you were losing them all again.

The man took your hand and brought you out on the roof of the house.

“Whenever we see a sunrise or a sunset we will remember the life they gave us here and know they are safe.” 

You laid next to Din, watching as the sun rose on the horizon.

“Remember when you asked me to be your crewmember?” You smiled fondly, your grip tightening in his as his thumb stroked your hand, the sadness evident in your voice.

The man chuckled, “I didn’t like you.”

Your eyes widened as you rolled over to face him, “Oh, really?”

He smiled at you, “But I like you now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I haven’t had time to respond to any of your comments from last chapter but I will so thank you so so much for your comments they make my day. THIS IS PURE FLUFF ALL FOR YOU. Also so sorry if there are mistakes I had to go to bed so I barely had time to edit lol anyways so like I’m very not okay with the fact that this is the last chapter of this story because I don’t want it to end. I am planning a sequel but I’m not sure where it’s gonna go yet so it might take a little while. But I am gonna be posting one-shots I’ve been working on. I got a few requests so if you have something you want me to write just hit me up. Anyways you are all my favorite people in the world and thank you so so so so much for reading my story! I hope you enjoy this last part!!!!


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